Revealed: The Premier League side set to lose SEVEN players for the Africa Cup of Nations - and the teams with NOBODY going

A club in the hunt for the Champions League is set to lose seven of its stars when the Africa Cup of Nations starts in December.

And up to 17 teams could be without some players when the biennial major tournament plays out between December 21 and January 18.

AFCON is typically held in January and February to line up with the continent's dry season and that has proven a stumbling block for clubs like Liverpool in the past.

Now high-flying Sunderland will feel to pinch as they are set to lose seven stars to the competition, as first called by the BBC .

Forwards Chemesdine Talbi (Morocco), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), and Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso) will be a major miss for Regis Le Bris.

Defenders Arthur Masuaka (Dr Congo), Noah Sadiki (Dr Congo), and Reinildo (Mozambique) are also likely to jet off, as well as Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra.

Sunderland are set to lose seven players to AFCON including Morocco star Chemesdine Talbi

Arsenal, Chelsea, and Leeds United will have no players going to AFCON this time around

Wolves will be hit the second-hardest, with five players going including Marshall Munetsi

While Diarra has been injured since September, these are all important first-team players.

Basement boys Wolves will be hit second-hardest by AFCON with five stars poised to fly out. Marshall Munetsi (Zimbabwe), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe), Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tolu Arokodare (Nigeria), and Jackson Tchatchoua (Cameroon) make up the crew.

At the other end of the scale, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Leeds can sleep easy knowing that none of their players will be going to AFCON. Newcastle may join them depending on whether Yoane Wissa is called up by DR Congo after his knee injury.

Most teams fall into the bracket of having between one and three players preparing to play in African football's showpiece tournament.

The clash of calendars is an issue every other year for clubs in Europe, but being asked to represent your country is the highest honour. AFCON is a huge tournament, representing a continent of around 1.55 billion inhabitants, and players are unanimous in standing behind it.

Almost two billion people are said to have watched the thrilling 2023 edition, which Ivory Coast won.

But players have seemingly felt pressure trying to combine it with their club obligations. Andre Onana missed Cameroon's AFCON opener last year after flying out less than a day in advance because Manchester United wanted him to play against Tottenham.

In the past, striker Sebastien Haller (formerly of West Ham) has blasted the 'disrespect' shown towards the tournament.

Ivory Coast won the 2023 edition in ther own country after beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final

In 2021, while he was at Ajax, he reacted strongly when asked by Dutch media whether he would be choosing to answer the call of his country.

'This question shows the disrespect for Africa,' he told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

'Would this question ever get asked to a European player ahead of the EUROs? Of course I am going to the Africa Cup [of Nations].

'This tournament was actually supposed to be held in the summer, but was postponed due to Covid.

'Of course I will go to the Africa Cup to represent Ivory Coast. That is the highest honour.'