The African Cup of Nations is back next year, and for Leicester City, it could be a problem.
Leicester City went into this international break on the back of two defeats.
They’re only the Foxes‘ second and third defeats of the Championship season so far, and Enzo Maresca‘s side remain top of the table, though Ipswich Town in 2nd are now level on points.
Nevertheless, the break perhaps came at a good time for Leicester City who’ll be eager to get a reaction when they host Watford this weekend.
There’s no international break until February now and a congested fixture list in between.
So for Maresca, it’ll be a balancing act keeping everyone fit and firing until the next break, and there’s the African Cup of Nations thrown in there to add another element of difficult for the Foxes boss.
Who’s heading to the African Cup of Nations?
Leicester City have a number of players who could potentially be heading to AFCON next year; the tournament takes place between January 13th and February 11th.
Sky Sports have compiled a list of Football League players who could potentially be heading to the tournament, with Leicester having four; Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi for Nigeria, Abdul Fatawu for Ghana, and Patson Daka for Zambia.
A looming problem for Maresca and Leicester City…
The absences of Iheanacho and Ndidi in particular could be painstaking for Maresca.
Both players have so far played key roles for Leicester City and both make up what is a very strong spine in this current XI.
Maresca then would be relying on an ageing Jamie Vardy whilst Iheanacho is away, with the exiled Daka potentially heading to AFCON as well.
Tom Cannon’s eventual return looks like it’ll come at the perfect time; he was on the bench vs Middlesbrough last time out and if Maresca can get him up to speed before January, he could play a key role for Leicester.
Fatawu meanwhile has played a fairly important role so far; he’s featured 12 times in the Championship, scoring one and assisting one, having steadily worked his way into the XI.
So there’s certainly a few gaps in the XI that could open up when AFCON starts, and it’ll pose Maresca with some new challenges.
Though whether or not Leicester will bring in some replacements in January or simply attempt to play on without them remains to be seen.