With the 2025 African Cup of Nations kicking off later in the month in Morocco, Premier League clubs are set to temporarily part with their African player who are bound for the continent's biggest competition as 24 teams set to bear the flags of their countries at the 35th edition.

The tournament is scheduled to kick off on December 21st and run until the middle of January 2026, with the final to be played on January 18th at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

A host of English top-flight clubs will release their players with the deadline already set for December 15th by FIFA. Players whose countries will be taking part in the competition will head out, and their absences will be keenly felt, especially with the festive hectic schedule.

Each Premier League club will play at least six games in December, with those involved in Europe playing one more, while those still active in the Carabao Cup will play the quarter-finals, taking their total to eight matches.

In the realization of this, we take a ranking of the effect the AFCON 2025 will have on Premier League teams on the basis of the number of players each team will release, and how much they'll be missed.

Ranking the effect of the AFCON 2025 on Premier League clubs 

The AFCON 2025 will last for almost a month, and our ranking is influenced by the impact of absentees and opposition clubs that would benefit from it.

From Arsenal and Chelsea, who have no players for the tournament, to the likes of Sunderland, expected to be heavily impacted due to the number of African players, here is our ranking, from the good to the worst.

1. Arsenal: 0

Arsenal will face Everton, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Liverpool, and Nottingham Forest, during the period of the tournament.

While Mikel Arteta's team will contribute no player as they are without any African players, their opponents would potentially be without influential players, which could increase their advantage in these fixtures.

Mohamed Salah, Idrissa Gueye, Carlos Baleba, Cheick Doucoure, Ismaila Sarr, Evann Geussand, Amine Adli, Ibrahim Sangare, and Willy Bolly, will all be missing out against Arsenal, depending on the progress of their respective countries.

2. Chelsea: 0

Like Arsenal, Chelsea will also have none of their player missing out during the AFCON 2025, as they will be taking on the likes of Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Manchester City, Fulham, and Brentford.

Players like Amine Adli, Dango Ouattara, Frank Onyeka, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Omar Marmoush could potentially be absent when their clubs face Enzo Maresca's team.

3. Newcastle United: 0

The Magpies will also be missing no one as Yoane Wissa, who is yet to debut due to a long-term injury following his move from Brentford in the summer, has been left out of the Congo DR's squad for the AFCON 2025.

The Nigerian trio of Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, and Samuel Chukwueze will all miss out for Fulham when they play in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals a day before the AFCOM kick off.

Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, Noussair Mazraoui, Lyler Forster, Hannibal Mejbri, Axel Taunzebe, Cheick Doucoure, Ismailla Sarr, Christantus Uche, and Chadi Riad may not face Eddie Howe's team between December and January.

4. Leeds United: 0

Leeds United will lose no player to the AFCON 2025 but could benefit from the mass absence from their opponents with Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Fulham coming their way, while Newcastle, who are also in their fixture will not miss any AFCON player.

5. Bournemouth: 1 player

The Cherries must be thrilled with Ghana's failure to make the tournament as it means Antoine Semenyo, who has been their best player for quite a while, will remain with them, with only Amine Adli likely to be heading home.

6. Brighton: 1 player

With the Gambia not taking part in the tournament, Brighton will remain with Yankuba Minteh, but Cameroonian midfielder, Carlos Baleba will be away.

7. Aston Villa: 1 player

Summer signing Evann Guessand will be the only Villain going away for the AFCON 2025 as the winger will team up with defending champions Ivory Coast, and miss important dates against Man United, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

8. Liverpool: 1 player

Liverpool will be releasing the current Premier League Player of the Year award winner, although the indication for now is that he won't be much of a miss due to his uncharacteristic season so far.

Mohamed Salah has been dropped to the bench in the last two Premier League Matchdays because Liverpool has enough in their arsenal to make up for his absence.

The Liverpool legend will miss important dates against the North London duo of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as some other games against the league minnows.

9. West Ham United: 1 to 2 players 

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf of Congo DR and Senegal, respectively, are Hammers who will be heading to the AFCON 2025 barring any unfortunate occurrences.

With the Lion of Teranga of Senegal expected to reach the latter stages of the tournament, West Ham may miss Diouf for a significant part of this period, when they'll face Manchester City, Brighton, and others.

10. Tottenham Hotspur: 1 to 2 players 

Although Thomas Frank's team will be contributing two players to the AFCON 2025, Senegalese midfielder, Pape Matar Sarr, will be the one they'll miss when the tournament.

The other, Yves Bissouma, has lost his place in the team and has not even featured for Spurs this season, before picking up an ankle injury while on international duty with Mali in October.

11. Brentford: 1 to 2 players 

Brentford will lose the duo of Dango Ouattara and Frank Onyeka to the tournament, but these absentees are not expected to have any real effect on their performances, given that they have more reliable players.

Nigerian midfielder Onyeka is yet to start a league game so far, while the club has become more reliant on goals from Brazilian striker Igor Thiago, relieving Ouattarra of the pressure following his summer move from Bournemouth.

12. Manchester City: 1 to 2 players 

Omar Marmoush and Raya Ait-Nouri will be teaming up with Egypt and Algeria, respectively, but they are not expected to affect Pep Guardiola's team in any way, as they are not a major part of the team, with Erling Haaland and Nico O'Reilly being favoured in their respective positions.

13. Everton: 1 to 3 players

The Toffees will suffer in the absence of the duo of Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye; the Senegal internationals who have established themselves as main contributors to David Moyes' team.

Nevertheless, the club has enough to get behind without the two, although the quality may not be the same. Arsenal and Aston Villa represent their two major fixtures in this period, while others are equally or maybe, less competitive.

Adam Aznou is also eligible for Morocco but has been injured and is not considered a contributor for David Moyes at present.

14. Burnley: 1 to 3 players

Axel Taunzebe of Congo DR, Lyler Forster of South Africa, and Hannibal Mejbri of Tunisia will all be departing for Morocco 2025 AFCON with their respective countries, leaving Scott Parker short in rotation.

15. Fulham: 1 to 3 players 

A truly difficult period for Fulham to lose three players for the AFCON 2025 given the nature of their upcoming fixtures; all winnable if at their best.

The Nigerian trio of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, and Samuel Chukwueze will all be leaving for the tournament, a huge blow for Marco Silva, who has recently unlocked the best form of Milan loanee Chukwueze.

With Nigeria one of the favourites for the tournament, Fulham could be without the trio for seven games, including important dates against Chelsea, Liverpool, Crystal Palace, and finally Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.

16. Manchester United: 1 to 3 players 

A huge blow for Manchester United as they appeared to be one of the two teams that'll be most affected by the absentees, with three of their best players departing to join their respective countries for the showpiece.

Bryan Mbeumo, who has been their best attacker since his summer move from Brentford, and then Amad Diallo, only second to Mbeumo in performance as per attackers so far, will both be huge misses for Ruben Amorim.

Noussair Mazraoui has also been a reliable defender, and with the current injury list, United could do with his presence, but he won't be available as he'll be riding with host Morocco in their bid to extend their dominance.

17. Nottingham Forest: 0-4 players 

Forest has four AFCON 2025 eligible players, but it remains to be seen if all four will be heading for the tournament. One thing is sure; they will not be too affected without these players, except for one, maybe.

Ibrahim Sangare, especially with Douglas Luiz out injured, has been a regular in the midfield, but his countryman Willy Bolly has played much fewer minutes. Both are almost certain to be heading off to the tournament as defending champions, the Ivory Coast.

The Nigerian duo of Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina are still in doubt for the tournament. Awoniyi has recently lost his place in the national team due to injuries, while Aina hasn't featured since his injury while playing for the Super Eagles against South Africa in September.

Forest have tough fixtures lined up for the period with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Fulham, Everton and then Arsenal all waiting to take them on.

18. Crystal Palace: 0-4 players

Of the four players potentially heading to the AFCON 2025, Ismailla Sarr is the only regular name in Oliver Glasner's team, while the others, like Chadi Riad and Christantus Uche, are still struggling to get into the team.

Malian international Cheick Doucoure has been sidelined with injury for months and his absence will not be of concern for the Eagles in the coming weeks.

19. Wolves: 4 to 5 players 

It hasn't been a great season for Wolves with just two points on record after 14 games, the worst record of any team in Premier League history, and it could become worse with four to five players departing for the AFCON 2025.

Cameroon's Jackson Tchatchoua, Tolu Arokodare of Nigeria, Emmanuel Agbadou of the Ivory Coast, and Marshall Munetsi of Zimbabwe are all regular names on the team sheet of a club that has lost each of its last eight games and is winless in 10.

It could get worse in the coming weeks, especially during the AFCON, with meetings with Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United again, Newcastle United, Brentford, and Everton all coming between this weekend and the end of the AFCON in mid-January.

Tawanda Chirewa could also be joining Zimbabwe for the AFCON, although he has yet to feature for Wolves in the Premier League this season.

20. Sunderland: 5 to 7 players

It has been an incredible start to their return to the Premier League for Sunderland, and they will be facing their biggest test when the AFCON resumes with five to seven playerss jetting off for the tournament.

Noah Sadiki and Arthur Masuaku will be joining Congo DR, Bertrand Traore with Burkina Faso, Reinildo with Mozambique, Simon Adingra with defending champions, Ivory Coast, Chemsdine Talbi with host Morocco, and Habib Diara with Senegal.

Many of these players are significant part of Regis Le Bris' team and may miss clashes with Brighton, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, and Brentford.