Mah’s African adventure will hit City

OF all the teams to cope with a key player missing for the African Cup of Nations, City are probably better prepared than most.

Barring any unfortunate injury, Riyad Mahrez will almost certainly captain Algeria in the postponed 2021 AFCON tournament that begins in early January, and he could be in Cameroon for the tournament for over a month.

Mahrez led Algeria to a stunning victory in the 2019 tournament, and will be hoping to retain the title. They face Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea and the Ivory Coast in a competitive group stage which runs from January 11 to January 20.

A path to the final could see Algeria face Nigeria or Egypt in the last 16,

Morocco or Ghana in the quarterfinals, and potentially Senegal or Cameroon in the semi-finals.

The tournament starts on January 9, with FIFA rules stating that clubs must release players to begin travelling to their teams ‘no later than Monday morning the week preceding the week when the relevant final competition starts.’

So in Mahrez’s case, that will see him miss at least three City fixtures before even kicking a ball for Algeria - the Christmas trip to Brentford on December 29, the New Year’s Day visit to Arsenal, and also the FA Cup third round fixture, whoever City are drawn to face on the weekend of

January 8. He would also miss both legs of a Carabao Cup semi-final, should the Blues get there.

After the group stages get underway, he will be a big loss for the home fixture with Chelsea on January 15, and the long trip to Southampton on January 22. Even if Algeria progress, he won’t miss any City fixture during the last 16 stage as the Blues aren’t due to play during that midweek. They are also without a fixture on the weekend of the quarter-finals, with a winter break scheduled - although an additional international slot has been added for South American and North American nations which will also affect some City players.

Should Algeria reach the semi-finals, Mahrez would miss a possible FA Cup fourth round tie, while an appearance in a second successive AFCON final would likely rule him out of a home clash with Brentford on February 9.

Chelsea will be missing Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech, with fixtures against Brighton, Liverpool, City, Tottenham, Brighton and Arsenal likely to be affected.

Meanwhile, Liverpool will be without key forwards Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, as well as midfielder Naby Keita.

City will also face an Arsenal side without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe and Mohamed Elneny.