Which Premier League teams will lose most players to Afcon?

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off earlier than usual this year – with up to 17 Premier League clubs set to be affected by players jetting off to host country Morocco.

The tournament runs from 21 December until 18 January.

There has been no official announcement about which date clubs will have to release their players by – and it could vary depending on agreements.

Players could miss up to six, or in some cases seven, Premier League matches – plus FA Cup and Carabao Cup games – if they reach the final.

The group stages end on 31 December, so quickly eliminated players may only miss half that amount.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds do not have any players due to play in the 2025 Afcon – with Sunderland and Wolves losing the most players.

Villa’s only player at Afcon will be Ivory Coast forward Evann Guessand.

Like Villa, Bournemouth should not be too affected by Afcon.

Attacking midfielder Amine Adli is likely to be in the Morocco squad. But the 25-year-old has started only one Premier League match since his summer arrival.

Brentford will have two players going off to Afcon – including one first-team regular.

Club-record signing Dango Ouattara will feature for Burkina Faso. The £42.5m forward has scored twice for the Bees.

Brighton must do without Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba, who has started nearly every game for Albion this season.

Burnley will have three players at the tournament

Former England Under-21 defender Axel Tuanzebe will be playing for DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The biggest blow for Crystal Palace will be the loss of Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr, who has scored eight goals in all competitions this season.

Then they have three maybes.

Forward Christantus Uche, who has only featured as a substitute for Palace so far, is a Nigeria international but was not in their most recent squad.

Neither Morocco defender Chadi Riad nor Mali midfielder Cheick Doucoure have played a competitive game of football since January following serious knee injuries.

Everton will lose two members of their starting XI both to Senegal – four-goal forward Iliman Ndiaye and midfielder Idrissa Gueye.

Young defender Adam Aznou has not been in a Morocco squad since his summer move from Bayern Munich to Merseyside.

Fulham will see three players all go off to join the Nigeria squad.

Eighth-placed Liverpool will only lose one player to Afcon – but that one player is one of their greatest footballers ever.

Title-chasing City have two players going off to Afcon, but neither have played all that much this season because of injury.

Manchester United’s right-hand side will have a very different look to it over the festive period.

The only potential departure for Newcastle is a player who has yet to play for the club.

DR Congo forward Yoane Wissa, a summer signing from Brentford, injured his knee on international duty in September.

Nottingham Forest have up to four players who will leave for Afcon – but it could be as low as one.

Midfielder Ibrahim Sangare is certain to be in the Ivory Coast squad, while defender Willy Boly will hope to be but has barely played this season – and was not in their most recent squad.

This season’s surprise package, fourth-placed Sunderland will be the worst affected team by far by Afcon 2025 with seven players due to leave.

They are Morocco winger Chemsdine Talbi, Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra, Mozambique full-back Reinildo, Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra, Burkina Faso forward Bertrand Traore and DR Congo pair Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki.

The majority of them are first-team regulars, with 50 Premier League appearances between them this season.

Tottenham might have two midfielders going off to Afcon – Senegal’s Pape Matar Sarr and Mali’s Yves Bissouma.

Bissouma has not played for Spurs this season and had ankle surgery in October.

Struggling West Ham will lose both of their starting full-backs for a few weeks.

Wolves are bottom of the Premier League and without a win – and five players will jet off.

Zimbabwe pair Marshall Munetsi and Tawanda Chirewa, Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Agbadou, Nigeria striker Tolu Arokodare and Cameroon full-back Jackson Tchatchoua will all be heading off.

Chirewa has not played for Wolves this season, but the rest are all regulars.

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