AFCON Approaches

The tournament runs Jan 9 - Feb 6

We’re nearly into December, on the cusp of the ‘busy holiday period’ when domestic league and cup fixtures, the final Group matches in Europe and a confluence of traditions mandate that players are run ragged during the coldest stretch of the season. For FPL managers this is normally the time of the year when we wait, perched over keyboards, thumbs hovering above screens, waiting for the starting XIs to be announced so we can rush to squad sheets and free agent pools, making moves to ensure a full compliment of starters.

Of course, Pep, Jurgen, Thomas and Covid have conspired to turn that once time-honored holiday tradition into an every day, every match occurrence. Because we are more used to dealing with squad rotation, even among the most threadbare Premier League cupboards, the idea that you’ll lose a player for a match or two isn’t the end of the world. However, the interruption of AFCoN this year will add additional matches to players who already already coming off a compressed season last summer, World Cup qualifying, and will have been available to play as many as eight matches. That’s right, eight. Starting this Saturday, Nov 27 and ending on Tuesday, Dec 28 Liverpool’s EPL schedule runs like this: SOU (H), EVE (a), WOL (a), AVL (H), NEW (H), TOT (a), LEE (H), and LEI (a). That’s an EPL match every 4th day for a month. It’s time to carefully consider not only the players who will be leaving for AFCoN but also those who may get additional minutes in the weeks leading up to their departure and while they are at the tournament.

AFCoN lists are starting to pop up; I think this one from an FPL account of indeterminate identity is quite good: