Liverpool and Man City stars set to be at centre of club-v-country row as AFCON looms with Omar Marmoush and Mohamed Salah wanted by Egypt

Egypt take on fellow AFCON rivals Nigeria in a friendly in Cairo a week before the tournament kicks off on December 21st. Clubs are expected to release their players in good time ahead of the competition to prepare with their respective nations prior to Morocco 2025.

AFCON will run until January 18th 2026, meaning teams could be without key players for up to eight weeks. The tournament itself runs over the hectic festive period and with the expansion of the Champions League and Europa League, players could miss a number of league and continental fixtures.

While Arsenal and Chelsea won't be affected by the tournament, both Liverpool and Manchester City are expected to lose a key player each with Salah and Marmoush set to lead the charge for the Pharaohs as they chase a record-setting eighth AFCON title. However neither side are prepared to release the players for the friendly with Nigeria, which takes place a day after Liverpool host Brighton, and the same day City take on Crystal Palace.

Instead, City's EFL Cup meeting with Brentford on December 16th is expected to be the first game Marmoush will miss for Pep Guardiola's side, and could be the first of eight the former Eintracht Frankfurt forward sits outs. City teammate Rayan Ait-Nouri, who represents Algeria, is also likely to miss a substantial chunk of the season owing to AFCON.

Liverpool, meanwhile, were dumped out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night as Arne Slot named an inexperienced XI in their eventual 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace. Salah was a number of first team players who didn't even make the matchday squad for the disappointing home defeat.

And the Reds expected the first game the 33-year-old would miss is the the trip to Tottenham on December 20th. In total, Salah could miss seven matches if Egypt, as some expect, go the distance in Morocco.

City boss Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, isn't worried about losing Marmoush and Ait-Nouri for an extended period of time. Marmoush only returned to the starting XI following injury in the midweek 3-1 win over Swansea, a game the 26-year-old scored in.

Asked about the scheduling of the tournament, Guardiola said: "This competition [is] for their countries so they have to go. Always I try to solve the problem when the problem is in front of me. Right now I don’t think [about it].

"I have to use them for Sunday and next Wednesday and next Sunday before the international break. When it is going to happen they cannot be here and we will see the situation and take the decisions."

Sunderland are expected to be hit the heaviest by AFCON, and could be without up to nine players for the tournament. Manchester United, meanwhile, will be without Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo, who are expected to be called up for international duty by Cameroon and Ivory Coast, respectively.

Guardiola, whose City side take on high-flying Bournemouth this weekend, believes the Premier League is becoming more like the NBA. Liverpool ended City's dominance last season, while Arsenal are now the frontrunners for the Premier League title, mirroring the NBA, which has had a different champion in each of the last six seasons.

"I remember when I was in Munich or Barcelona, I always heard the rumours that in England, everyone could beat everyone, I always had that sense. Maybe Liverpool and ourselves in the past changed that dynamic because we were so consistent in terms of points and arriving every season with 90, 90, 90 points, close to 100 points.

"But I think the Premier League has always been like this, all the teams can beat each other, it is good. At some point like the NBA, there is not a dominant team in the last four or five or six years, there is always one different team and everyone can beat everyone. I think for the spectators and for the show of the Premier League it is really, really good."