The Africa Cup of Nations starts this weekend and we will be witnessing many Premier League stars take centre stage in Cameroon this weekend for what is set to be one of the closest AFCON competitions in some time, mainly due to the sheer amount of Premier League talent on show.
Here, we look at the ones to watch from England’s top flight.
Pack your bags! 🎒WE ARE HEADING TO CAMEROON! 🇨🇲#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/Zoxioidgow— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 3, 2022
Pack your bags! 🎒WE ARE HEADING TO CAMEROON! 🇨🇲#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/Zoxioidgow
It’s been a few months to forget for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after losing his Arsenal captaincy and failing to get into the side due to a club suspension. Time will tell if he gets back into the setup, but with Gabon, he remains their all-time top scorer with 29 goals from 71 caps and still boasts 233 goals in 376 appearances split across his time with Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund over the past decade.
He’s one of the favourites to clinch the top scorer award too, and Gabon’s dependency on him only enforces the fact he must turn up and score for them.
Mohamed Salah enters the AFCON as arguably the best in the world and as the top scorer in the Premier League with 16 goals. Now, just like is the case in each Liverpool game, all eyes are on him as he continues to fight for a Ballon d’Or at the end of 2022.
There may not be anybody on earth better than him right now, and it would be crazy not to include him on this list as he has 32 goal contributions from 23 games already for his club.
Sadio Mane is another Liverpool star on show, and he is expected to be Senegal’s main man and one of the reasons why that country is the favourites in the eyes of many.
His past two seasons haven't been as good as they were in previous campaigns for Liverpool, but nevertheless, following his well-taken goal against Chelsea, he comes into the AFCON with eight league goals and probably the second best on show in Cameroon after his Liverpool colleague.
Riyad Mahrez enters the competition in as much confidence as anybody in Cameroon, being top of the Premier League with his club, on course to have his best ever goalscoring season, and as part of the team who are the defending champions.
The Manchester City star currently has 13 goals in all competitions this season, which is only one behind his best with the club and four behind his best season in professional football which came back in Leicester City's 2015/16 title win.
With a team full of stars like Said Benrahma, Mahrez remains the main man and a competitor for the top scorer award too.
Although players like Thomas Partey and Wilfried Ndidi make up a range of Premier League stars across the field, the form of Wilfried Zaha combined with Ivory Coast’s promising approach to the tournament gets the Crystal Palace star on this list.
Off the back of his best Premier League goalscoring season last campaign with 11 goals in 30 games, the Ivory Coast winger enters the AFCON with five already inside 17 fixtures, and at this ratio and if he stays fit, he will produce his best season to date.
He also has Sebastien Haller and Nicolas Pepe to work alongside up top, which puts Ivory Coast as arguably the best attacking team at the competition.