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The tournament looks interesting this year. Firstly due to the tournament again interfering with the club season and its effects, the absence of Song and Eboue for us, the impact players leaving will have at the top and of course the contenders for the competition.

Ill start with the impact on us.

Our Fixtures

EPL 09/01 (H) Everton
EPL 17/01 (A) Bolton
FAC 23/01 (N) Round 4
EPL 27/01 (A) Aston Villa
EPL 31/01 (H) Man Utd
EPL 07/02 (A) Chelsea


AFCON 2010

I immediately looked at Song and Eboue's fixtures and compared them to what we will be facing in the league and FA cup.

Song

Cameroon form part of group D, consisting of Gabon, Zambia and Tunisia. I have no doubt that they will make it through their group with flying colours, hence we should forget about him returning before the 21st. Cameroon play on the 13th, 17th and 21st.

Song should thus miss: Bolton away (ooh)and the FA Cup Round 4 match.

The quarter finals on January 25th introduces an interesting match, the winner of group D vs the runners up of group C (Egypt,Nigeria,Mozambique,Benin). This clash could provide the exit point for Cameroon and Song back in time to face United.

If Cameroon go through then Song will be away for Villa (A), United (H) and perhaps Chelsea (A) too.

SO ITS ALL ABOUT JANUARY 25 2010, MAKE A NOTE OF THAT DATE.

With all this being said, I do wish the Cameroon side well in AFCON 2010, yes I mean it!

Eboue

Cote d'Ivoire, my favourite African team after South Africa, have a kind draw. Drawn in group B with the likes of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo they should finish first or second. Eboue plays on the 11th, 15th and 19th January and they should qualify for the quarters as well.

In the quarter final match, to be played on January 24th, Cote d'Ivoire come up against one of the top two in group A (Angola, Mali, Malawi, Algeria). Other than Angola I dont see them slipping up here. Eboue should go further in the competition so Id expect him to miss out on a few more.

Eboue should miss: Everton (H), Bolton (A), FA Cup Round 4, Aston Villa (A), United (H).

I also with Cote d'Ivoire well in the competition.

The Tournament

As I said, I believe that Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Cameroon and to a little lesser degree Angola, Ghana and Nigeria should be favourites to win the competition.

Home support for Angola will take them far I feel, semi finals should be on the cards for them. As for the final however I think that the quality of Cote d'Ivoire (Drogba, Yaya, Kalou, Kolo), Cameroon (Eto'o,Djemba Djemba,R Song, A Song), Egypt (Aboutrika,Zidan,Zaki) should take these sides far in the competition. Its going to be interesting.

The top of the EPL table

United will be unscathed by AFCON, and we know they are known to hit their straps at this time of year. Lets hope the Villa win could create a little bit of a bleak run for them

Chelsea are also on a dry run at the moment, however since their transfer ban was lifted they can go into the market to cover up for their losses. The likes of Drogba, Kalou, Essien, Mikel are HUGE losses for them.
Although looking at their matches, Hull (A), Sunderland (H), Birmingham (H), Burnley (A) Arsenal (H) during the competition one could say that they bar us should manage.

The only good thing I can see from this is that Drogba will vanish from the league for a good few weeks, and I feel Chelsea rely on him too much, and like Cesc said, he is what makes the difference.