BACK TO SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY LESSON

This is now a challenging period for our Premier League clubs. Much depends on how many players a club can afford to keep on its books; how wealthy they are and what can they afford in the way of buying players and paying their wages.
From now on some clubs are going to feel the pinch because:
the post Christmas/New Year depression, grumpy young men getting booked and sent off,
cold, wet weather and associated injuries,
transfer window open, losing players?
local derbies over Christmas period, tense football,
relentless matches piling one after another and losing key players to the.....
AFRICAN NATIONS CUP.  

That's all a club needs when it is trying to stave off relegation or make a bit of progress in the one and only trophy it can win.

The 31st edition of the Total African Cup of Nations 2017 is almost underway. First round matches begin on Saturday 14th January in Gabon.
Guess where Gabon is.
The original host was to be Libya but who wants to spend money on more security than is necessary?
So the Confederation of African Football made a decision.

The winner of the tournament qualifies for the 2017 FIFA Conderations' Cup in Russia...out of the frying pan into the fire?

Group 1: Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon (previous champions 4) Guinea-Bissau.
Group 2: Algeria (1), Tunisia (1), Senegal, Zimbabwe.
Group 3: Ivory Coast (2), DR Congo (2), Morocco (1), Togo.
Group 4: Ghana (4), Mali, Egypt (7), Uganda.

The final is played on February 5th at the Stade de L'Amitie, Libreville. The map below shows the countries in African that have qualified. All you have to do is put names to countries.

And who suffers?
First number is players going/out of possible:
Arsenal 1/2, Bournemouth 1/3, Palace 2/4, Everton 1/3, Hull 2/2, Leicester 3/6, Liverpool 1/2, Man Utd 1/1, Southampton 1/1, Stoke 3/3, Sunderland 3/6, Watford 2/5, West Ham 2/5. Unnamed clubs have no takers.
Those not going were either uninterested, not picked, retired, their home country didn't qualify or player is conveniently injured.

Sadio Mane could miss 9 Liverpool games.