The African Cup of Nations will see many players leave their clubs to compete with their respective countries for up to five weeks.
In Gameweek 16 we will all be topped up to FIVE free transfers, regardless of how many you have the week before. Therefore, the aim should be to spend all free transfers in Gameweek 15 (if you have anywhere to make improvements to your team) because as soon as the deadline passes you will have five transfers available.
Here's the schedule:
| Date | AFCON | FPL |
|---|---|---|
| 13 December | Gameweek 16 📆 | |
| 20 December | Gameweek 17 📆 | |
| 21 December | Group Stage 🌍 | |
| 26 December | Gameweek 18 📆 | |
| 30 December | Gameweek 19 📆 | |
| 3 January | Round of 16 🌎 | Gameweek 20 📆 |
| 6 January | Gameweek 21 📆 | |
| 9 January | Quarter Finals 🌍 | |
| 14 January | Semi Finals 🌍 | |
| 17 January | 3rd place match 🌍 | Gameweek 22 📆 |
| 18 January | Final 🏆 | |
| 24 January | Gameweek 23 📆 |
Here are the players that are expected to represent their country:
| Club | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | Evann Guessand | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Bournemouth | Amine Adli | Morocco 🇲🇦 |
| Brentford | Dango Ouattara | Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 |
| Brentford | Frank Onyeka | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Brighton | Carlos Baleba | Cameroon 🇨🇲 |
| Burnley | Lyle Foster | South Africa 🇿🇦 |
| Burnley | Axel Tuanzebe | DR Congo 🇨🇩 |
| Burnley | Hannibal Mejbri | Tunisia 🇹🇳 |
| Crystal Palace | Ismaïla Sarr | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Crystal Palace | Christantus Uche | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Crystal Palace | Chadi Riad | Morocco 🇲🇦 |
| Crystal Palace | Cheick Doucouré | Mali 🇲🇱 |
| Everton | Iliman Ndіaye | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Everton | Idrissa Gueye | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Fulham | Alex Iwobi | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Fulham | Calvin Bassey | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Fulham | Samuel Chukwueze | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Liverpool | Mohamed Salah | Egypt 🇪🇬 |
| Manchester United | Bryan Mbeumo | Cameroon 🇨🇲 |
| Manchester United | Noussair Mazraoui | Morocco 🇲🇦 |
| Manchester United | Amad Diallo | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Manchester City | Rayan Aït-Nouri | Algeria 🇩🇿 |
| Manchester City | Omar Marmoush | Egypt 🇪🇬 |
| Nottingham Forest | Willy Boly | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Nottingham Forest | Ibrahim Sangaré | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Spurs | Pape Matar Sarr | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Spurs | Yves Bissouma | Mali 🇲🇱 |
| Sunderland | Noah Sadiki | DR Congo 🇨🇩 |
| Sunderland | Simon Adingra | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Sunderland | Chemsdine Talbi | Morocco 🇲🇦 |
| Sunderland | Reinildo Mandava | Mozambique 🇲🇿 |
| Sunderland | Ahmed Abdullahi | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Sunderland | Habib Diarra | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Sunderland | Arthur Masuaku | DR Congo 🇨🇩 |
| Sunderland | Blondy Nna Noukeu | Cameroon 🇨🇲 |
| Sunderland | Bertrand Traoré | Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 |
| West Ham | El Hadji Malick Diouf | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| West Ham | Aaron Wan-Bissaka | DR Congo 🇨🇩 |
| Wolves | Emmanuel Agbadou | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Wolves | Tawanda Chirewa | Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 |
| Wolves | Marshall Munetsi | Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 |
| Wolves | Tolu Arokodare | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
Therefore, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds are the three teams completely unaffected (note: some teams are only losing "peripheral" players so naturally may be relatively unaffected too).
Below are the notable players going to AFCON (whether that's their ownership or potential impact on teammates that could benefit).
| Club | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Brentford | Dango Ouattara | Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 |
| Burnley | Lyle Foster | South Africa 🇿🇦 |
| Crystal Palace | Ismaïla Sarr | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Everton | Iliman Ndіaye | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| Fulham | Alex Iwobi | Nigeria 🇳🇬 |
| Liverpool | Mohamed Salah | Egypt 🇪🇬 |
| Manchester United | Bryan Mbeumo | Cameroon 🇨🇲 |
| Manchester United | Amad Diallo | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
| Manchester City | Rayan Aït-Nouri | Algeria 🇩🇿 |
| Manchester City | Omar Marmoush | Egypt 🇪🇬 |
| West Ham | El Hadji Malick Diouf | Senegal 🇸🇳 |
| West Ham | Aaron Wan-Bissaka | DR Congo 🇨🇩 |
| Wolves | Emmanuel Agbadou | Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 |
This is a Monte-Carlo progression/return probabilities from a 3,000-simulation run (using Gemini, so take this with a big pinch of salt, it's rough guidance and someone will no doubt produce a better one using bookies odds).
The Group Stage finishes on 31st December and Mozambique for example are heavy favourites to be knocked out of their group, however a player's availability for GW20 would be the staff's decision given there would be traveling back and a 3 day gap before the next league game.
| Country | Players (from your list) | Back by GW18 (%) | Back by GW19 (%) | Back by GW20 (%) | Back by GW21 (%) | Back by GW22 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria 🇩🇿 | Rayan Aït-Nouri (MCI) | 3.0 | 12.0 | 56.7 | 77.5 | 100.0 |
| Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 | Dango Ouattara (BRE), Bertrand Traoré (SUN) | 12.0 | 35.0 | 91.4 | 98.4 | 100.0 |
| Cameroon 🇨🇲 | Carlos Baleba (BHA), Bryan Mbeumo (MUN), Blondy Nna Noukeu (SUN) | 8.0 | 30.0 | 82.6 | 94.7 | 100.0 |
| DR Congo 🇨🇩 | Axel Tuanzebe (BUR), Noah Sadiki (SUN), Arthur Masuaku (SUN), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (WHU) | 8.0 | 30.0 | 83.5 | 95.3 | 100.0 |
| Egypt 🇪🇬 | Mohamed Salah (LIV), Omar Marmoush (MCI) | 3.0 | 15.0 | 64.2 | 83.2 | 100.0 |
| Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 | Evann Guessand (AVL), Amad Diallo (MUN), Willy Boly (NFO), Ibrahim Sangaré (NFO), Simon Adingra (SUN), Emmanuel Agbadou (WOL) | 8.0 | 30.0 | 79.8 | 93.2 | 100.0 |
| Mali 🇲🇱 | Cheick Doucouré (CRY), Yves Bissouma (TOT) | 8.0 | 30.0 | 79.7 | 93.1 | 100.0 |
| Morocco 🇲🇦 | Amine Adli (BOU), Chadi Riad (CRY), Noussair Mazraoui (MUN), Chemsdine Talbi (SUN) | 1.0 | 5.0 | 27.6 | 43.8 | 100.0 |
| Mozambique 🇲🇿 | Reinildo Mandava (SUN) | 8.0 | 25.0 | 99.2 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Nigeria 🇳🇬 | Frank Onyeka (BRE), Christantus Uche (CRY), Alex Iwobi (FUL), Calvin Bassey (FUL), Samuel Chukwueze (FUL), Ahmed Abdullahi (SUN) | 8.0 | 30.0 | 81.8 | 94.1 | 100.0 |
| Senegal 🇸🇳 | Ismaïla Sarr (CRY), Iliman Ndіaye (EVE), Idrissa Gueye (EVE), Pape Matar Sarr (TOT), Habib Diarra (SUN), El Hadji Malick Diouf (WHU) | 1.0 | 6.0 | 33.9 | 50.1 | 100.0 |
| South Africa 🇿🇦 | Lyle Foster (BUR) | 12.0 | 35.0 | 89.3 | 97.5 | 100.0 |
| Tunisia 🇹🇳 | Hannibal Mejbri (BUR) | 5.0 | 20.0 | 71.2 | 87.9 | 100.0 |
| Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 | Tawanda Chirewa (WOL), Marshall Munetsi (WOL) | 10.0 | 25.0 | 99.8 | 99.9 | 100.0 |
Sources:
- https://www.givemesport.com/afcon-premier-league-players-games-missed/
- https://www.cafonline.com/media/50ykqklv/match_schedule_totalenergies-caf-africa-cup-of-nations_morocco-25.pdf
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