During the winter, Wolves will be without key players due to their participation in the 2025 edition of the African Cup of Nations.
The Old Gold look to be without five players during this period, as those competing will want to join the list of Wolves players who have won AFCON.
The African contingent of the squad will miss at least three games, but it could be more based on how far they progress in the tournament.
It will be a tricky period, but here is how the club coped the last two times they were without key players.
Wolves’ results during the last two AFCON tournaments
The last two African Cup of Nations did not hurt the Old Gold as much as this year is expected to. During those tournaments, Wolves only had to be without two players on each occasion.
In 2021, Romain Saiss and Willy Boly were away on international duty, and during the 2023 edition, they were without Rayan Ait Nouri and Boubacar Traore.
Although Boly did get injured just before the tournament, and despite still travelling and being named in the squad, he did not play a single game.
Both nations were knocked out fairly early, and during that time, Wolves played four matches, with two being in the FA Cup. They won three of their games, with the loss being in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
They earned six points from a possible six in the Premier League.
Then during the 2023 AFCON, they were only without Rayan Ait Nouri for three games, including an FA Cup game and replay against Brentford. The Old Gold progressed past Brentford and drew 0-0 against Brighton.
They earned one point from a possible three in the Premier League.
So overall, the Wanderers seem to cope well during this period, but this year, it will be a lot harder to be without some key players.
AFCON will hurt Wolves more this year
Due to AFCON starting in December rather than January, Wolves will feel the effects much more.
This year they will have more than double the number of players away, and they are all guaranteed to miss three games.
When the competition starts in January, Premier League results are not as heavily impacted, as the FA Cup also begins that month.
However, now, they’ll have five players away for some key fixtures taking place during December against Brentford, Liverpool and Manchester United.