The African Cup of Nations is indeed not friendly for the five major leagues in Europe, the 2022 African Cup of Nations will be held from January 9 to February 6, while the five major leagues are just in the critical period of grabbing points, this African Cup of Nations may affect the Serie A, Premier League title situation, Liverpool and Napoli or will become the biggest losers.
The African Cup of Nations is different from the cup competitions on other continents, they implement a biennial system, and due to the special geographical location of Africa, the African Cup of Nations is generally held between January and February. This has also led to many African players playing for Europe's top five league teams being drawn back to the national team to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations. This period of time coincides with the critical period of the game after the Christmas holiday, and if you fall behind at this stage, it will be difficult to catch up in the end. Therefore, some players will choose to temporarily bid farewell to the team for the country, and some players will choose to refuse the national team in order to gain stable playing time in the first team. Of the teams affected by the Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool and Napoli are definitely the worst.
As of the 20th round of the Premier League, Liverpool are third in the league, nine points ahead of first-placed Manchester City in the case of one less round. If Liverpool can win the postponed match against Leeds United, they will only be six points behind Manchester City, not that there is no hope at all. But the arrival of the Africa Cup of Nations could extinguish Liverpool's hopes of winning the title. Salah is not only an indispensable thigh for Liverpool, but also an indispensable core of the Egyptian national team, and in the next month, we may not see Salah's figure in the Premier League, which is undoubtedly a blow for Liverpool.
In January, Liverpool will have six games, and if you add up to the make-up match against Leeds United, it could be seven. In addition to 4 league games in these competitions, there are 2 Semi-Finals of the English League Cup and 1 knockout match of the third round of the FA Cup. And most importantly, on 3 January, Liverpool will visit Stamford Bridge in London to take on the Blues Chelsea. However, according to the Mirror, Salah will return to the national team after completing the match against Chelsea.
In addition to Salah, Liverpool's other big man, Mane, will also represent Senegal in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. Although Mane's performance this season has declined a bit, he is still one of the strongest wingers in the Premier League, his scrambling action is very large, sometimes easy to eat cards, but his counter-attack success rate is actually very high. Mane is currently the most suitable auxiliary striker for Liverpool, and although he has scored fewer goals than Jota this season, he has not been small. Liverpool, which have lost Mane and Salah, may not even be able to play leeds United. Although their title rival Manchester City also has a player to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, Manchester City is a multi-point flowering type, the lack of a Mahrez will only have one less offensive means, and for Liverpool, it is one less offensive line. In the coming month, the point difference between Manchester City and Liverpool may be even wider, and Liverpool may withdraw from the title race this season.
As miserable as Liverpool is Napoli in Serie A, as of the 19th round of Serie A, Napoli ranks 3rd in Serie A, 7 points behind Inter Milan at the top of the table, and there are no African players in the Inter Milan squad, so this African Cup of Nations has no impact on Inter, but it is very beneficial to them. Unlike Inter, Napoli have almost all african players on the central axis. Osmayne and Onas at the front, Zambo Anguiza in midfield, Andri Bali in the defence of the thigh, all four players will participate in the next Africa Cup of Nations. However, according to the latest news, Osmayne tested positive for the new crown and has returned to Italy, which not only can not participate in serie A matches, but even the African Cup of Nations can not play.
Although Anguissa is a defender who only joined the team in the summer window this year, he has now become a midfield barrier for Napoli, and the all-round back that can pass and carry the defense is really unattainable. Without Anguissa, Napoli's midfield powerhouse would immediately drop a notch, not to mention the lack of players like Curibal in the backline. Coulibaly is to Napoli what Van Dijk is to Liverpool, and we all know what Liverpool is like without Van Dijk, so what happens to Napoli next.
In fact, for Inter Milan, the biggest opponent for the title is not Napoli, but AC Milan, and now the two main players in the AC Milan squad will also participate in the Africa Cup of Nations, they are Casey and Bennacell. Although Casey's heart is no longer in Milan and his performance has declined, you really can't find an AC Milan midfielder who is better than Casey. Bennacer has also played well this season, he is the player with the highest success rate in the top five european leagues this season, and his forward passing ability is also good. This time, the Africa Cup of Nations is equivalent to directly cutting off the two waists of AC Milan, and Inter Milan is estimated to have laughed out loud in their dreams.