Nigerian Players Round-Up

After the international break, action resumes with scintillating fixtures among the top teams in the top leagues in Europe. TUNDE LIADI here highlights games involving Nigerian players

In ENGLAND, Alex Iwobi’s Everton and Liverpool will be involved in  the 288th  Merseyside derby (both competitive and non-competitive) games  this afternoon at the Goodison Park. The Blues who are on top of the EPL with 12 points from four games will fancy their chances against out of sorts, reigning Champions who were flogged 7-2 by Aston Villa before the international break.

Both Ola Aina and Ademola Lookman will hope to file out for Fulham at the Bramall Lane tomorrow against Sheffield United.  While Aina recently teamed up with the Cottagers who are still without a point after four games, Lookman made his league debut for Fulham in their 1-0 reverse at Wolves after his loan deal from RB Leipzig.

Out-of-favour Odion Ighalo will be in the spotlight again today when Manchester United trade tackles with Newcastle United at the St James’ Park. The Red Devils are 16th on the league table with a paltry three points out of possible 12. The former Watford striker featured 11 times for Manchester United in the league last season but only for accumulated 90 minutes of action.

Leicester City are still without Wilfred Ndidi due to injury but they have his compatriot, Kelechi Iheanacho who scored the Super Eagles’ only goal in their latest games with Algeria and Tunisia, to call on as they welcome in-form Aston Villa to the King Power Stadium tomorrow.

West Brom Albion who staged a return to the EPL after two seasons in the Championship have Semi Ajayi on their payroll and are up against Burney at the Hawthorns on Monday night.

In ITALY, SS Napoli with Victor Osimhen has a tough fixture to negotiate when they lock horns with in-form Atalanta today at Stadio San Paolo.

In another fixture, Simy Nwankwo and Crotone will be hoping to upstage Juventus at home to end their barren spell on the league table after three games. Simy did get his first Serie A goal shortly before the international break against Sassuolo in a 4-1 loss but getting their season off the mark against the Zebras today will be a tough call.

Bologna and Sassuolo face off in another Serie A test tomorrow. Kingsley Michael plays for Bologna.

In SPAIN, Ramon Azeez will be eager to stage a return to Granada squad today after missing their last game before the international break against Cadiz. He has played two games this season for his club against Atletico Madrid (1-6) and Athletic Bilbao (2-0). Will he earn his third game?

Samuel Chukwueze and Villarreal have been erratic since the season began and their inconsistency was brought to the fore with the 4-0 thrashing in the hands of Barcelona weeks ago. The Yellow Submarines are up against Valencia tomorrow and they will go all out to target their third win of the season. Chukwueze has been involved in all Villarreal’s five games including three starts.

Kelechi Nwakali has only played 28 minutes of La Liga action for SD Huesca who host Real Valladolid tomorrow in their sixth game of the season. Nwakali was used in their first game of the season against Villarreal but has not been able to add to it after his Covid-19 test result came back positive.

In FRANCE, Terem Moffi will hope to start on a high for Lorient who play Reims away today in a Ligue One tie. Moffi recently signed for the French club from Kortrijk of Belgium.

Nigeria’s duo of Josh Maja and Samuel Kalu will be eager to carry on from where they stopped for Bordeaux before the international break when they slug it out with Marseille today.