The Premier League loses 32 players to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco (December 21 – January 18), creating significant disruption during the busiest period of the English season.
Club-by-club departures
Sunderland (6 players) – the worst affected club: Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Reinildo Mandava (Mozambique), Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Habib Diarra (Senegal). For the newly promoted side, this represents a catastrophic blow during fixtures against Manchester City, Brighton and Crystal Palace.
Manchester United (3 players): Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) – top scorer with 6 league goals; Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) – 25 chances created; Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco). Ruben Amorim loses his primary attacking threats ahead of Villa Park.
Fulham (3 players): Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, Samuel Chukwueze (all Nigeria). Iwobi leads the team with 23 chances created.
Everton (2 players): Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye (both Senegal). Ndiaye's 6 goal involvements lead the team.
Liverpool (1 player): Mohamed Salah (Egypt) – the league's most decisive attacker. Could miss up to seven matches if Egypt reach the semi-finals.
Manchester City (2 players): Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria).
Other departures: West Ham lose both full-backs in Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo) and Diouf (Senegal). Tottenham lose Bissouma (Mali) and Sarr (Senegal).
Clubs unaffected
Six clubs have no departures: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leeds United, Newcastle and Bournemouth. This represents a significant title race advantage for Arsenal and Villa. Bournemouth benefit from Ghana's failure to qualify, keeping Antoine Semenyo available.
Title race implications
The asymmetry is significant. Arsenal and Aston Villa maintain full squads while Liverpool lose Salah. This scheduling disparity could prove decisive in a tight title race.
Return dates
Group stage exits (December 29-31) allow returns by early January. Semi-finalists miss six gameweeks. Morocco, Egypt, Senegal and Algeria players face the longest absences.
