Everton are heading into the busy festive period, and they have a lot of different obstacles to face.
Everton have a congested fixture list to end what’s been a productive 2025 since David Moyes returned to the club.
The Toffees have four games in 17 days, so the squad will certainly be stretched during this pivotal period.
On top of that, AFCON is fast-approaching, with Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye playing their final game against Chelsea before departing.
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With that said, here is how many Everton games Ndiaye and Gueye could actually miss.
Everton stars Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye.
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Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gana Gueye could miss up to seven Everton games
Gueye is back available for selection against Chelsea on Saturday after serving his three-match ban for taking a swipe at his own teammate, Michael Keane.
It will be Gueye’s final game before he jets off with Ndiaye to join up with the Senegal squad ahead of their first AFCON game against Botswana just before Christmas.
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The Toffees duo are guaranteed to miss at least three games, but that would only be if Senegal were knocked out in the group stages.
That’s unlikely, as they are one of the favourites to win the tournament, so if they were to get to the final, Ndiaye and Gueye would miss these seven Everton games.
Arsenal (H)
Burnley (A)
Nottingham Forest (A)
Brentford (H)
Wolves (H)
Sunderland (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Tyler Dibling will benefit from Iliman Ndiaye’s absence
Of course, it goes without saying that Everton will massively miss Ndiaye whilst he’s away at AFCON, but there is one silver lining.
It gives Tyler Dibling the opportunity to impress, as Moyes is expected to finally give the £40m summer signing some game time.
Speaking last month, Moyes laid out his plan for Dibling: “We’re hopefully going to try and get Tyler ready.
“Nobody’s really talking about how we’re going to lose Ili mid-December, and there’ll be opportunities that arise for players [then] and we’ll see what comes around at that time.
“When you sign players, it’s not easy for it all to fall into place right away, especially when we are in a world where everything’s expected so quick and to be done so early that things should work.”
Dibling could even get some minutes this weekend, as Moyes will likely want to get him ready to start against Arsenal next weekend.
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