Two continental cup competitions, the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) & AFC the Asian Cup, will take place in the middle of the EPL season (January-February 2024). It will impact many Fantasy EPL assets, who will need to leave their Premier League clubs to play in the competition and potentially miss a few EPL games. Read about the fallout below and plan accordingly!
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Fantasy EPL Impact of AFCON & AFC Asian Cup
Two continental cups will take place midway through the 23/24 EPL campaign. The African Cup of Nations (January 13-February 11) & Asian Cup (January 12-February 10) will interrupt the seasons of a few top players and many others. The likes of Salah (Egypt/AfCon), Son (South Korea/Asian Cup), & Mitoma (Japan/Asian Cup) could miss up to 5 EPL matches (GW21-GW25) in the middle of the season. This isn't the end of the world but it will influence their value and force Fantasy EPL managers to reshuffle their rosters accordingly.
This midseason break will slightly dent the prospects of the players affected; meanwhile, their backups will likely see more minutes as a result. Many managers will overreact or underreact to this news. The key is to recognize the impact and plan accordingly. If you draft one of these assets, think about acquiring their backups, which will provide cover during the season, particularly during that January-February stretch of games.
Impact on Elite Players
A forced absence of a few matches (likely 5 at worst) can slightly alter draft valuations. Egypt (Salah), Ivory Coast (Aurier, Traore), Algeria (Mahrez, Benrahma), Japan (Mitoma & Tomiyasu), & South Korea (Son) are among the favorites; the further these teams advance in their respective tournament, the more games they miss. Do these tournaments change the draft positions of these elite players? It certainly has to be priced in. If you value someone like Salah slightly above Kane or Bruno, or Son above Grealish, then you may be tempted to choose one of the others due to these missed games. It also adds another question mark to players like Mahrez, who already get rotated as is. Their draft position may take a hit as a result, but the key thing, again, is to plan ahead and acquire some cover (see below).
Featured Players and Their Backups
Here we list the players that will feature in Afcon and the Asian Cup & the backup assets from each club that you may wish to roster to soften the blow of their absence.
AFCON
Salah, Egypt. Backups: Jota, Nunez
Mahrez, Algeria. Backups: Alvarez, Foden
Benrahma, Algeria. Backups: Fornals
Partey, Ghana. Backups: Jorginho
Serge Aurier, Ivory Coast. Backups: Williams
Hamed Traore, Ivory Coast. Backups: Tavernier, Brooks
Schlupp, Ghana. Backups: Streamer
Asian Cup
Son, South Korea. Backups: Richarlison, Solomon
Mitoma, Japan. Backups: Joao Pedro, Enciso
Tomiyasu, Japan. Backups (Tomiyasu is not a starter/shouldn't be rostered)
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