Premier League’s 40-player exodus broken down as month of chaos set to shake up title race
The Premier League is set for a major six-week shake-up as a whopping 40 players are called up for national teams across two premier competitions.
Both the African and Asian confederations host their respective tournaments over the next month.
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) runs from 13 January to 11 February in Ivory Coast. The Asian Cup – where Australia’s Socceroos will compete – is in Qatar from 12 January to 10 February.
Socceroos players began arriving for a pre-tournament camp in Bahrain as early as January 1, and many other players competing in AFCON or the Asian Cup have already departed their clubs to link up with their national teams.
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And on Wednesday morning (AEDT), the impact was clearly felt by West Ham, who wanted to select Mohammed Kudus against Brighton for one final match before leaving for AFCON – only to be denied the Ghanaian federation.
The next six weeks could prove crucial at both ends of the table. Some clubs will be decimated by departures, like Nottingham Forest, who lose six players, or Wolves and Brentford who have four players selected apiece.
Other clubs, like Liverpool and Tottenham, lose superstars in Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Son Heung-Min (South Korea) respectively.
But some clubs will view the period as a chance to make up ground on their rivals. Manchester City, Newcastle and Burnley do not have any players competing in either the AFCON or Asian Cup.
Here’s who every club will be missing this month.
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