The two Everton stars could miss six matches over the festive period due to the Africa Cup of Nations
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 1: Iliman Ndiaye of Everton celebrates with Idrissa Gueye of Everton during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Leicester City FC at Goodison Park on February 1, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Iliman Ndiaye celebrates with Idrissa Gueye during the Premier League match between Everton and Leicester City at Goodison Park on February 1, 2025
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Everton could be without Iliman Ndiaye and Idriss Gueye for six Premier League fixtures during the festive period. The schedule for the 2025-26 season was announced on Wednesday morning.
The Blues will begin the campaign with a trip to Leeds United on a Monday night, before the first match at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium will be played against Brighton & Hove Albion.
There are potential complications for David Moyes over the busy December and January months, though, as six of the team's fixtures fall during the window for the Africa Cup of Nations.
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The 2025 edition of the competition has been pushed back from this summer due to the inaugural edition of FIFA's expanded Club World Cup taking place in the United States in June and July.
With the World Cup also taking place in the United States next summer, the Africa Cup of Nations has had to be pencilled in for December and January as opposed to its historical January and February mid-season slot.
The upcoming tournament will start on December 21 and will run until January, which coincides with one of the most congested spells of the domestic calendar.
It means that while players would typically miss a number of cup matches when the competition was held early in the calendar year, now they will be absent for the entire festive period.
Senegal, who would likely call up both Ndiaye and Gueye, will play Botswana, DR Congo and Benin in the group stages of the competition on December 23, 27 and 30 respectively.
The round-of-16 is scheduled to take place between January 3-6 with the quarter-finals following on January 9-10. Both semi-finals will take place on January 14 ahead of the third place play-off on January 17, with the final then on January 18.
Should Senegal make it all the way to the final in Rabat then Everton would need to potentially cope without their key duo for six games.
The Blues host Arsenal on December 20 before trips to Burnley and Nottingham Forest on December 27 and December 30 respectively. In the new year then take on Brentford on January 4 and Wolves on January 7. They will then visit Aston Villa on January 17.
Ndiaye and Gueye could also miss a number of cup matches. The FA Cup third round will take place the weekend of January 10-11, while the League Cup quarter-final and semi-final first leg will be played in the weeks commencing December 15 and January 12 respectively.
As things stand, Gueye is set to leave Everton as a free agent when his contract expires at the end of this month.
The Blues have offered a new deal to the veteran midfielder, who won the club's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards for last season.
Ndiaye will be looking to kick on in 2025-26 after an excellent debut season. The winger netted 11 goals in all competitions after his move from Marseille last summer.