After a brief respite for the FA Cup 3rd Round, the Premier League is back this Friday 12th January, but for many teams, there will be squad changes and rotations thanks to several big players heading off to compete in the African Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup. With AFCON running through till the 11th February and the Asian Cup running till 10th February, player absences may continue for quite sometime. So while fans and bettors alike can look forwards to even more competitive football to enjoy, either by tuning in to watch the games or to dabble in a little AFCON betting or Asian Cup betting, let’s drill down into each of the teams and just who might not be available in the coming weeks.
Arsenal : Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) | Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan)
Aston Villa : Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso)
Bournemouth : Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso) | Antoine Semenyo (Ghana)
Brentford : Saman Ghoddos (Iran) | Kim Ji-soo (South Korea) | Frank Onyeka (Nigeria) | Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
Brighton : Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast) | Kaoru Mitoma (Japan)
Burnley: No Absences
Chelsea : Nicholas Jackson (Senegal)
Crystal Palace : Jordan Ayew (Ghana)
Everton : Idrissa Gueye (Senegal)
Fulham : Fode Ballo-Toure (Senegal) | Calvin Bassey (Nigeria) | Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
Liverpool : Wataru Endo (Japan) | Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Luton Town : Issa Kabore (Burkina Faso)
Manchester United : Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) | Andre Onana (Cameroon)
Manchester City : No Absences
Newcastle United : No Absences
Nottingham Forest : Ola Aina (Nigeria) | Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast) | Willy Boly (Ivory Coast) | Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal) | Moussa Niakhate (Senegal) | Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast)
Sheffield United : Yasser Larouci (Algeria) | Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia)
Tottenham Hotspur : Yves Bissouma (Mali) | Son Heung-min (South Korea) | Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal)
West Ham United : Nayef Aguerd (Morocco) | Mohammed Kudus (Ghana)
Wolves : Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea) | Justin Hubner (Indonesia) | Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria) | Boubacar Traore (Mali)
As noted from above, several teams have no absences listed down while others are missing up to 6 players across both the AFCON and Asian Cup, but do remember that not all of these players are first team regulars and the impact on each team will be largely down to the depth of their squad and the players regular playing times and positions. When considered, here is a list of the most ‘interruptive’ absences for each team based on the season so far, albeit many may return early if their teams exit the competitions.
Impact of the player absence to Premier League teams:
Liverpool : Endo (15 games – 1 goal) | Salah (20 games – 14 goals) Impact = Substantial as Salah is their top goal scorer this season.
Manchester United : Amrabat (10 games – 0 goals) | Onana (20 games – 0 goals) Impact = Substantial as Onana is the 1st choice goalkeeper and reserve keeper has had no playing time.
Tottenham Hotspur : Bissouma (15 games – 0 goals) | Heung-min (20 games – 12 goals) | Sarr (18 games – 2 goals) Impact = Substantial as Heung-min is their top goal scorer this season.
Wolves : Hee-chan (20 games – 10 goals) | Hubner (N/A) | Ait-Nouri (17 games – 0 goals) | Traore (12 games – 0 goals) Impact = Substantial as Hee-chan is their top goal scorer this season.
Brighton : Adingra (17 games – 4 goals) | Mitoma (17 games – 3 goals) Impact = Notable as both players make up 2 of their top 5 scorers this season.
Chelsea : Jackson (19 games – 7 goals) Impact = Notable as 2nd highest goal scorer this season.
West Ham United : Aguerd (16 games – 1 goal) | Kudus (16 games – 6 goals) Impact = Notable as Kudus is 2nd highest goal scorer this season.
Bournemouth : Ouattara (13 games – 0 goals) | Semenyo (16 games – 3 goals) Impact = Some
Brentford : Ghoddos (14 games – 1 goals) | Ji-soo (N/A) | Onyeka (16 games – 0 goals) | Wissa (19 games – 4 goals) Impact = Some
Crystal Palace : Ayew (19 games – 2 goals) Impact = Some
Fulham : Ballo-Toure (4 games – 0 goals) | Bassey (15 games – 0 goals) | Iwobi (16 games – 3 goals) Impact = Some
Nottingham Forest : Aina (14 games – 1 goal) | Aurier (12 games – 0 goals) | Boly (15 games – 1 goal) | Kouyate (10 games – 0 goals) | Niakhate (14 games – 0 goals) | Sangare (11 games – 0 goals) Impact = Some
Arsenal : Elneny (1 games – 0 goals) | Tomiyasu (5 games – 1 goal). Impact = Minimal
Aston Villa : Traoré (2 games – 0 goals) Impact = Minimal
Everton : Gueye (14 games – 1 goal) Impact = Minimal
Luton Town : Kabore (15 games – 0 goals) Impact = Minimal
Sheffield United : Larouci (6 games – 0 goals) | Slimane (10 games – 0 goals) Impact = Minimal
While several teams face interruptions larger than others, where players that are absent make up either their top scorer or main goalkeeper, only a handful of teams are likely to experience any major setbacks, with some players likely to return in a matter of weeks should their teams exit in the qualifying rounds. According to BetVictor, at the time of writing, Morocco are favourites in the AFCON latest odds, Senegal are 2nd and Ivory Coast are 3rd, so the only major concern would be for Chelsea’s Nicholas Jackson. On the other side, Japan are favourites in the Asian Cup latest odds, South Korea are 2nd and Australia are 3rd, so Tottenham and Wolves could be without their top scorers for a substantial time, whilst Brighton stand to lose both their absentees for a while as their respective teams are both expected to do well.
For now, all that is left to do is speculate about what might happen this weekend when the Premier League kicks back off, or, if you think that these missing players might swing the tide a little more than expected, have a punt on some Premier League betting and see what happens.
