The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will finally see the daylight with Cameroon all set to host Africa's biggest football festival. The tournament which will start on January 9 was originally due to be played last year but was postponed due to the pandemic. 

Cameroon earlier had the chance to host the 2019 edition but was stripped of that role as a result of lack of preparation amid the Boko Haram insurgency and the Anglophone Crisis.

This AFCON tournament sees another 24 teams compete with the final taking place on Sunday, February 6. This year's participants have been permitted to name larger squads consisting a maximum of 28 players. The tournament will also feature some of the top stars from the Premier League including the likes of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez set to feature for their country in the tournament. 

List of Premier League players who will participate in AFCON 

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, and Leicester City are among the teams that will be most affected in the coming weeks. Let's take a look at Premier League teams who will be without players taking part in AFCON.

Arsenal

Arsenal will be without the services of  Omar Rekik (Tunisia), Thomas Partey (Ghana), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), and Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast) who will be heading to play in AFCON. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is an obvious inclusion in Gabon's AFCON squad which should be announced soon.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa will miss the services of Mahmoud Trezeguet (Egypt) and Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso) as the duo will travel to AFCON tournament.

Brentford

Brentford will miss out on the services of Frank Onyeka.

Brighton

Brighton will be without the services of their midfielder Yves Bissouma, who will be playing for Cameroon.

Burnley  

Burnley will miss the services of Maxwell Cornet, who will play for Ivory Coast in the AFCON. 

Chelsea

Chelsea will lose their number one goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who has been named in Senegal’s official squad. 

Crystal Palace

Patrick Viera's Crystal Palace team will not have Wilfried Zaha and Cheikhou Kouyate as they will be away to play for Ivory Coast. 

Everton 

Everton will only see Alex Iwobi leaving for AFCON in January.

Leicester City

Leicester City are set to lose four players to AFCON with Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi both been named in the Nigeria squad. Nampalys Mendy will be heading away with Senegal, while Daniel Amartey has been named in Ghana’s provisional squad.

Liverpool

Liverpool will be without some of the big names as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita will be flying off to AFCON post the Chelsea game. 

Manchester City

The current league leaders will only lose Riyad Mahrez to AFCON.

Manchester United 

Manchester United will have Hannibal Mejbri and Eric Bailly heading for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Southampton 

Southampton will not have the services of Moussa Djenepo, who will join up with fellow Premier League and Mali star Bissouma in the Cameroon squad.

Watford

Watford will be the most affected team with five first-team members set to travel for AFCON. Ismaila Sarr, Emmanuel Dennis, Adam Masina, Imran Louza of Morocco and William Troost-Ekong are the players who the Hornets will miss. 

West Ham

West Ham will be without Said Benrahma, who will be play for reigning champions Algeria, who are expected to go deep in the tournament. 

Wolves 

Wolves will only see Moroccon defender Romain Saiss heading to play AFCON.