Southampton along with the other 19 Premier League clubs will be forced to release those players who whose nations will be taking part in the African Cup Of Nations or AFCON for short, as many as 32 players could be missing, find out who may be gone from all the clubs including Saints here.
The African Cup Of Nations could have a big say in the direction the Premier League table takes in December with virtually all of the club's having to release players to play for their countries in the competition.
The tournament will begin on January 9th, but with players needing to be released from their squads 13 days before the opening game, that could mean some players will be jetting off straight after Xmas.
With the tournament concluding on 6th February many clubs could be without players for the best part of 6 weeks.
Saints are likely to be without Moussa Djenepo playing for Mali and Mohammed salisu with Ghana, although Salisu will likely be a big loss, Djenepo could be covered with Saints having a plethora of wide players.
Some clubs will struggle more than others, at the top Liverpool will be without their two main strikers in No Salah & ex Saint Sadio Mane whereas Manchester City will only lose Riyad Mahrez, Chelsea will lose Edouard Mendy (Senegal) & Hakim Ziyech (Morocco).
Some clubs will suffer more than others, Crystal Palace will be missing four players including Wilfrid Zaha, all of whom have played in most of their opening fixtures so far and they must be worried.
As must be Leicester City who too miss 4 and Arsenal.
The full list of potential absentees from Premier League squads is shown below
Arsenal
Thomas Partey (Ghana)
Mohamed Elneny (Egypt)
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)
Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast)
Aston Villa
Mahmoud Trezeguet (Egypt)
Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Marvelous Nakamba (Zimbabwe)
Brentford
Julian Jeanvier (Guinea)
Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Tariqe Fosu-Henry (Ghana)
Brighton
Yves Bissouma (Mali)
Burnley
Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)
Chelsea
Edouard Mendy (Senegal)
Hakim Ziyech (Morocco)
Crystal Palace
Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal)
Jeffrey Schlupp (Ghana)
Jordan Ayew (Ghana)
Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)
Everton
Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Ivory Coast)
Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
Leeds United
None
Leicester City
Daniel Amartey (Ghana)
Nampalys Mendy (Senegal)
Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria)
Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Naby Keita (Guinea)
Sadio Mane (Senegal)
Manchester City
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Manchester United
Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast)
Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)
Newcastle United
None
Norwich City
None
Southampton
Moussa Djenepo (Mali)
Mohammed Salisu (Ghana)
Tottenham Hotspur
None