Football365
·15 September 2023
Prem clubs ranked on AFCON and Asian Cup absentees: Forest, Man Utd suffer; City, Toon unscathed

Football365
·15 September 2023
Andre Onana will be one of four Man Utd players at AFCON; Pep Guardiola won't be affected but Steve Cooper loses eight players.
Manchester City and Newcastle won’t be waving any of their players off in the New Year for AFCON or Asian Cup duty. But Forest will lose loads, and two absentees could really hurt Manchester United.
The AFCON 2023 finals will be held in Ivory Coast between January 13 and February 11, 2024 with the draw taking place in October. The AFC Asian Cup will start and finish a day earlier in Qatar, running from January 12 to February 10.
FIFA dictates that those called up must be released by the Monday before the tournaments start, so the players below will likely be available to play in the FA Cup third round before jetting off on international duty.
Between then and February 11, there are four full Premier League matchdays as well as the FA Cup fourth round. The AFCON group stage concludes on January 25, so players could start returning anytime after that as and when their nations are eliminated.
Here’s how badly each Premier League club is affected by the tournaments…
Nottingham Forest – 8 players absent Serge Aurier, Willy Boly, Ibrahim Sangare (all Ivory Coast)
Ola Aina, Taiwo Awoniyi, Emmanuel Dennis (all Nigeria)
Cheikhou Kouyate, Moussa Niakhate (both Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Brentford (A), Arsenal (H), Bournemouth (A), Newcastle (H)
Brentford – 5 Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon)
Yoane Wissa (Congo)
Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Saman Ghoddos (Iran)
Kim Ji-soo (South Korea).
Premier League fixtures: Nottingham Forest (H), Spurs (A), Manchester City (H), Wolves (A)
Manchester United – 4 Andre Onana (Cameroon)
Amad (Ivory Coast)
Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)
Premier League fixtures: Spurs (H), Wolves (A), West Ham (H), Aston Villa (A)
West Ham – 4 Said Benrahma (Algeria)
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana)
Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)
Nayef Aguerd (Morocco)
Premier League fixtures: Sheffield United (A), Bournemouth (H), Manchester United (A), Arsenal (H)
Fulham – 4 Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi (both Nigeria)
Fode Ballo-Toure (Senegal)
Tyrese Francois (Australia)
Premier League fixtures: Chelsea (A), Everton (H), Burnley (A), Bournemouth (H)
Tottenham – 3 Yves Bissouma (Mali)
Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)
Son Heung-min (South Korea)
Premier League fixtures: Manchester United (A), Brentford (H), Everton (A), Brighton (H)
Brighton – 3 Tariq Lamptey (Ghana)
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Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast)
Kaoru Mitoma (Japan)
Premier League fixtures: Wolves (H), Luton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Spurs (A)
Arsenal – 3 Mohamed Elneny (Egypt)
Thomas Partey (Ghana)
Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan)
Premier League fixtures: Crystal Palace (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Liverpool (H), West Ham (A)
Bournemouth – 3 Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso)
Antoine Semenyo (Ghana)
Hamed Traore (Ivory Coast)
Premier League fixtures: Liverpool (H), West Ham (A), Nottingham Forest (H), Fulham (A)
Burnley – 3 Samuel Bastien (Congo)
Anass Zaroury (Morocco)
Lyle Foster (South Africa)
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Premier League fixtures: Luton (H), Manchester City (A), Fulham (H), Liverpool (A)
Wolves – 3 Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria)
Boubacar Traore (Mali)
Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea)
Premier League fixtures: Brighton (A), Manchester United (H), Chelsea (A), Brentford (H)
Crystal Palace – 3 Jeffrey Schlupp, Jordan Ayew (both Ghana)
Cheick Doucoure (Mali)
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Premier League fixtures: Arsenal (A), Sheffield United (H), Brighton (A), Chelsea (H)
Liverpool – 2 Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Wataru Endo (Japan)
Premier League fixtures: Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H), Arsenal (A), Burnley (H)
Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Aston Villa (H), Fulham (A), Spurs (H), Manchester City (A)
Sheffield United – 2 Ismaila Coulibaly (Mali)
Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia)
Premier League fixtures: West Ham (H), Crystal Palace (A), Aston Villa (H), Luton (A)
Luton – 2 Issa Kabore (Burkina Faso)
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (Congo)
Premier League fixtures: Burnley (A), Brighton (H), Newcastle (A), Sheffield United (H)
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Chelsea – 1 Nicolas Jackson (Senegal)
Premier League fixtures: Fulham (H), Liverpool (A), Wolves (H), Crystal Palace (A)
Aston Villa – 1 Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Premier League fixtures: Everton (A), Newcastle (H), Sheffield United (A), Manchester United (H)
Manchester City – 0
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Newcastle – 0
Premier League fixtures: Manchester City (H), Luton (A), Aston Villa (H), Nottingham Forest (A)