Every two years the African Cup of Nations rolls around in January. The knock on effect is that Premier League clubs are without some of their players for up to five weeks as they try to win the competition with their country. This winter will be no different as clubs have to deal without some big names.
Over the weekend, whilst we were all being bored with a lack of Premier League football, African sides were filling the remaining places in 2017's African Cup of Nations to be held in Gabon from January to February. The biggest stories saw Guinea-Bissau qualify for the first time in their history and Uganda for the first time since 1978.
The news that Ivory Coast had qualified was met with an audible groan from Old Trafford as it will rule new signing Eric Bailly out for up to five weeks, Bailly has been one of the signings of the season so far. But he's not the only one who will be out of club action, here's who to expect out of Premier League action:
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Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny- Egypt.
Bournemouth: Max Gradel- Ivory Coast.
Crystal Palace: Bakary Sako- Mali, Pape N'Diaye Souare- Senegal.
Everton: Idrissa Gueye- Senegal, Yannick Bolasie- DR Congo.
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Leicester City: Islam Slimani- Algeria, Riyad Mahrez- Algeria, Jeff Schlupp- Ghana, Daniel Amartey- Ghana.
Liverpool: Sadio Mane- Senegal.
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Manchester United: Eric Bailly- Ivory Coast.
Manchester City: Yaya Toure- Ivory Coast.
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Stoke City: Wilfried Bony- Ivory Coast, Mame Biram Diouf- Senegal, Ramadan Sobhi- Egypt.
Sunderland: Lamine Kone- Ivory Coast, Wahbi Khazri- Tunisia.
Watford: Nordin Amrabat- Morocco.
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West Brom: Allan Nyom- Cameroon.
West Ham: Andre Ayew- Ghana, Cheikhou Kouyate- Senegal.
22 players in all could be missing from the Premier League for five weeks and it looks like Leicester will be the worst affected with four players potentially going to Gabon.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football