Salah misses Emirates trip as Man Utd lose Onana - How AFCON 2023 can affect EPL
Arsenal could lose Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny for up to a month in the new year and we take a look at how AFCON 2023 may affect the Gunners' Premier League rivals
The first international break of the season is in the books and whilst would appear that Arsenal's near full-strength squad is still intact, a problem is on the horizon.
Simply put, the best-case scenario for Arsenal was every single player reporting back to London Colney this week unscathed, full of confidence and raring to go. With Gabriel Magalhaes shaking off a minor thigh issue sustained on his Brazil debut against Bolivia, the indications are that Mikel Arteta has no fresh injury concerns.
But it's not just Jesus who was managed carefully during the international break. There's a strong argument that Arsenal's best starting XI when everyone is fit includes Zinchenko, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Odegaard and Bukayo Saka so the fact none have picked up an injury means the nightmare scenario has been avoided.
The competition, which was last won by Senegal, will be held in the Ivory Coast between January 13 and February 11, 2024. Now, the timing of the tournament also means Arteta isn't the only Premier League manager who will have to cope with the fact that some of their key players are poised to miss a large portion of the season.
In fact, if Egypt reach the latter stages of the tournament once again, Liverpool will most likely be without Mohamed Salah for their trip to the Emirates Stadium on February 3. With nine goals in 15 appearances against Arsenal, that would certainly be a huge blow for Jurgen Klopp's side.
Manchester United could be without Andre Onana with him recently returning to the Cameroon setup in addition to deadline day signing Sofyan
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