With the weekend packed with superstar Nigerian footballers in foreign leagues featuring in key positions and in crucial matches, it is a guaranteed win-win for their Nigerian fans and we’re excited to bring you the key players to watch out for while relaxing your nerves over the weekend.
Chelsea have done really well to halve what was a 10-point lead between themselves and Tottenham Hotspur which has somewhat resurrected their faint top-four hopes. The Blues travel to Wales to face a Swansea City side still fighting for their lives in a bid to stay in the division. Granted, Carlos Carvalhal’s side are four points clear of the drop, but you sense they aren’t getting carried away with four games left to play. Victor Moses has been in good form for the visiting side, and having been pivotal in the West Londoners’ 2-1 away win last time out at Burnley, is expected to play at the Liberty Stadium as the former champions seek to put the pressure on Spurs.Alex Iwobi was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Thursday night, so it wouldn’t be out of place to expect him to feature from the outset against an in-form Manchester United side at Old Trafford. The Gunners may have switched attentions to Europa League success, but having lost the reverse fixture in London 3-1, they sure would have fire in their bellies before the encounter in Manchester as they seek to get one over Arsene Wenger’s old adversary, Jose Mourinho.Amkar Perm handed themselves a major lifeline with a 2-0 win over second-bottom Tosno last weekend. They aren’t quite out of the woods yet and still find themselves in the relegation zone by virtue of an inferior goal difference. Brian Idowu and his teammates will be out to secure a big scalp in the league when third-placed Spartak Moscow visit the Red and Blacks. Both sides have identical records in their last five games, winning three and losing two, but with the higher-placed People’s Team losing two on the spin, Amkar will definitely give it a go when both sides face off.An Ahmed Musa brace in the previous game saw CSKA Moscow secure a come-from-behind 2-1 win over FC Krasnodar. The attacker will be out to add to his three league goals since his loan move from Leicester when the Horses visit Zenit St. Petersburg in a game that has a whole lot riding on it. CSKA are in second place, an automatic Champions League slot, with 51 points while Zenit sit outside the top three with 49. A defeat could see CSKA drop to the Europa League places (if Spartak Moscow, on 50 points, secure maximum points at Amkar) and with just two games to play after the upcoming gameweek, it could prove fatal in the run-in.William Troost-Ekong was an unused substitute in Bursaspor’s convincing 4-1 win at bottom Kardemir Karabukspor last weekend. Mikel Agu also missed out of the action, but Abdullahi Shehu was imperious in the win. The Green Crocodiles will seek to win successive games for the first time since December 2017 when they play host to in-form Konyaspor. The visitors may still have a threat of relegation hanging over their heads, but having won three and drawn two of their last five games, Bursaspor shouldn’t be taking anything for granted when both sides clash at Timsah Arena.Kasimpasa fell to a 2-0 defeat at in-form Konyaspor last time out, a result that put a stop to their three-game winning streak. Kenneth Omeruo didn’t do badly in the encounter and was, in fact, one of the top performers for the Apaches in the defeat. They’ll seek to bounce back from that defeat when they face yet another in-form side in Fenerbahce, who have won four on the spin and are one of the four teams still slugging it out for the title.A four-goal haul from Odion Ighalo helped Changchun Yatai to a 5-2 away win over Guizhou Hengfeng and in turn end the forward’s barren run in front of goal last time out. The Nigeria international will want to pick up where he left off when the Jilin-based outfit play host to table-topping Shanghai SIPG on Sunday. The visitors have been imperious at the start of the campaign and have only dropped points in one game (last week’s 1-1 draw against Tianjin Teda). Ighalo and co. will be motivated to inflict a first defeat on the Shanghai-based side in an effort to prevent them from widening their lead at the top.Tianjin Teda may have done really well to end Shanghai SIPG’s unblemished record last time out, but on an individual note, it wasn’t the best of outings for Mikel John Obi. The midfielder will be out to better that performance, though, when the Tianjin Tigers face another away trip, this time against Beijing Renhe. Ostensibly, the fact that the hosts have secured just two wins from seven games and sit in 13th place in a 16-team league is enough to call it in eight-placed Tianjin Teda’s favour. However, it should be noted that only one point separates both sides, which makes this tie difficult to call.Simy Nwankwo is a player who seems to have an uncanny eye for goal right now, going by his return of three goals in four games. In Crotone’s comeback win at Udinese last time out, the towering forward found the leveller before a late Marco Davide Faraoni strike sealed the win for the Red and Blues. With the Calabria-based side set to host a Sassuolo side unbeaten in six (including four draws), Simy will hope to continue his recent run against the 13th-placed Black and Greens.
