I think you’ll be alright for AFCON. Bentancur is back, Hojbjerg is hardly a slouch (and not too dissimilar to Gallagher, who Postecoglou wanted). January is a relatively nice time to lose them too, with not many PL games, no EFL cup semi, and a potentially easy FA Cup draw.

There’s also a good chance that most of your other players will be back then. Even just getting Romero back after a few games will put you back into a good position. With no Europe or EFL Cup I don’t think you’ll be in too bad a position for December.