Super Eagles of Nigeria is set to redeem their image in the second round of fixtures of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations as they visit Seychelles in Stade Linité on Saturday.
Both Nigeria and Seychelles are yet to get off the mark in the group and dropped points in group E, especially for Eagles who need to deliver in order to avoid a fatal early blow to their chances of qualifying.
Nigeria may have failed to get out of their 2018 World Cup group but they enjoyed a good tournament on the whole. Having been drawn with Argentina, Croatia and Iceland, it was always going to be tough but Nigeria entertained and was unlucky not to take something from their final game against Argentina.
Having played against some of the world’s top teams, Nigeria must now travel to play the Seychelles, in what is a severe drop in class. Only three other African teams are below Seychelles in the FIFA rankings and therefore the Seychelles vs Nigeria betting odds have the away team as the overwhelming favourite.
Seychelles are 190 in the latest FIFA World ranking with Nigeria occupying 46 in the latest ranking.
Seychelles have never qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations or the World Cup. They are a small nation and it would be a massive upset were they to take something from this game. They lost their first match of the group 5-1 against Libya.
The main question heading into this game is not who is going to win but by how many goals are Nigeria going to win?
Seychelles have failed to win any of their last 16 matches and their last Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match saw them concede 5 goals against a team arguably weaker than Nigeria.
In 8 of their previous 13 home games, Seychelles have failed to score a goal and Nigeria will see this game as the perfect opportunity to keep a clean sheet.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has been hit with a series of player withdrawals ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations against the Seychelles on Saturday, with William Troost-Ekong, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina all set to miss the trip.
Troost-Ekong of Udinese sustained an injury in the Serie A encounter at Fiorentina, and while he managed to complete the match, he’s been ruled out of the Super Eagles’ qualifier.
Torino’s wing-back Aina was taken off with a suspected muscular problem with four minutes to go in his side’s home win against SPAL, while Iwobi was omitted from the Arsenal matchday squad that travelled to face Cardiff City on account of illness.
Troost-Ekong’s unavailability for the crucial qualifier means his impressive run of 21 successive Super Eagles appearances stretching back to May 2016 comes to an end, and his absence will necessitate a defensive reshuffle from Rohr.
Though, Kenneth Omeruo should step into the heart of the defence, while Jamilu Collins could be an option to make his debut at left-back despite limping off for Paderborn with injury at the weekend.
STANDING
Group A
Team P W D L G Pts
Senegal 1 1 0 0 3:0 3
Madagascar 1 1 0 0 3:1 3
Sudan 1 0 0 1 1:3 0
E/Guinea 1 0 0 1 0:3 0
Group B
Team P W D L G Pts
Malawi 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Cameroon 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Morocco 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Comoros 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Group C
Team P W D L G Pts
Burundi 1 1 0 0 3:0 3
Mali 1 1 0 0 2:1 3
Gabon 1 0 0 1 1:2 0
S/Sudan 1 0 0 1 0:3 0
Group D
Team P W D L G Pts
Algeria 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Benin 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Gambia 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Togo 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Group E
Team P W D L G Pts
Libya 1 1 0 0 5:1 3
S/Africa 1 1 0 0 2:0 3
Nigeria 1 0 0 1 0:2 0
Seychelles 1 0 0 1 1:5 0
Group F
Team P W D L G Pts
Ghana 1 1 0 0 5:0 3
S/Leone 1 1 0 0 2:1 3
Kenya 1 0 0 1 1:2 0
Ethiopia 1 0 0 1 0:5 0
Group G
Team P W D L G Pts
Zimbabwe 1 1 0 0 3:0 3
D.R. Congo 1 1 0 0 3:1 3
Congo 1 0 0 1 1:3 0
Liberia 1 0 0 1 0:3 0
Group H
Team P W D L G Pts
Guinea 1 1 0 0 3:2 3
C/Africa 1 1 0 0 2:1 3
Ivory Coast 1 0 0 1 2:3 0
Rwanda 1 0 0 1 1:2 0
Group I
Team P W D L G Pts
B/Faso 1 1 0 0 3:1 3
Mauritania 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Botswana 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Angola 1 0 0 1 1:3 0
Group J
Team P W D L G Pts
Tunisia 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Niger 1 0 1 0 0:0 1
Eswatini 1 0 1 0 0:0 1
Egypt 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Group K
Team P W D L G Pts
Mozambique 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
G/Bissau 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Namibia 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Zambia 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Group L
Team P W D L G Pts
Uganda 1 1 0 0 1:0 3
Tanzania 1 0 1 0 1:1 1
Lesotho 1 0 1 0 1:1 1
Cape Verde 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Cape Verde 1 0 0 1 0:1 0
Seychelles vs Nigeria
Competition Africa Cup of Nations Qualification
Date 8 September, 2018
Game Week 2
Kick-off 13:30
Venue Stade Linite (Roche Caiman (mahel))
Officials
Central Referee – (Kenya) David Omweno
Ass. Referee – (Kenya) Gilbert Cheruiyot
Ass. Referee 2 – (Uganda) Mark Ssonko
FIXTURE
Seychelles v Nigeria
Comoros v Cameroon
Kenya v Ghana
S/Africa v Libya
Uganda v Tanzania
Namibia v Zambia
E/Guinea v Sudan
Gabon v Burundi
Mozambique v G/Bissau
Gambia v Algeria
Mauritania v B/Faso
Egypt v Niger
Morocco v Malawi
Madagascar v Senegal
Eswatini v Tunisia
Ethiopia v S/Leone
Lesotho v C/Verde
S/Sudan v Mali
Rwanda v Ivory Coast
Congo v Zimbabwe
Angola v Botswana
Liberia v D.R. Congo
Togo v Benin
Guinea v C/Africa
DID YOU KNOW?
- Each of the last five host nations to feature in a World Cup quarter-final have all progressed to the semi-final (Italy 1990, France 1998, South Korea 2002, Germany 2006 and Brazil 2014).
- Alvaro Morata scored seven goals in his first eight appearances for Chelsea in 2017-18, converting 26% of shots. In his 40 games for Chelsea in 2017-18 after this period, he netted eight goals with a 9% conversion rate.
- Watford have won their first four league matches of a season for the second time in their entire history and for the first time since the 1988-89 campaign when they were in the second tier.
- Jose Holebas has been directly involved in five Premier League goals so far this season (one goal, four assists) – more than any other player in the competition.
- Marcus Rashford is the first substitute to be sent off for Manchester United in the Premier League since Marouane Fellaini against Hull City in May 2015.
- Troy Deeney has become the fourth player to score in 100 matches for Watford in all competitions, after Tommy Barnett, Ross Jenkins and Luther Blissett.
- Romelu Lukaku has scored his first Premier League brace for Manchester United since his debut in the competition for the Red Devils (v West Ham in August 2017).
- Manchester United has won each of their last 23 Premier League matches in which they’ve scored the opening goal.
- Watford are looking to win their first four league matches of a season for only the second time in their entire history, also doing so in the 1988-89 campaign when they were in the second tier.
- Alexandre Lacazette has been directly involved in 10 goals (eight goals, two assists) in his last nine starts for Arsenal in all competitions.
- Cardiff has scored with each of their two shots on target in this game against Arsenal so far.
- Since his @premierleague debut for Arsenal in February, only Mohamed Salah (15 goals) has scored more goals in the competition than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (11).
- Victor Camarasa’s goal for Cardiff City was the Bluebirds’ first in league competition in 415 minutes of play since they last scored through Sean Morrison against Hull in April.
- Five of Shkodran Mustafi’s six Premier League goals have been headers. Bonce.
- Benjamin Mendy is the third Man City player to assist as many as four goals in the club’s first four games to a Premier League season, after Samir Nasri in 2011-12 and David Silva in 2015-16.
- Man City are unbeaten in their last 21 top-flight games against Newcastle (W18 D3) – their longest ever unbeaten run against a specific top-flight opponent.
- This is only the second time in their history that West Ham have lost their first four league games in a season (also 2010-11).
