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On Friday evening, Nigeria will face Saudi Arabia in an international friendly as preparations continue for the African Cup of Nations in January. The Super Eagles qualified for AFCON back in June courtesy of a dramatic 3-2 victory over Sierra Leone and will be taking the fixture against Saudi Arabia seriously with Friday night’s opponents improving significantly in recent years due to the level of competition going up drastically in their domestic league.
Nigeria predicted lineup vs Saudi Arabia team news
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Nigeria manager, José Peseiro, will be excited for this set of international fixtures for three reasons. First of all, it offers him the opportunity to manage Nigeria in his home country of Portugal. Secondly, this opening match sees him go up against the side he managed between 2009-2011. And finally, he has a clean bill of health so he can use both games to experiment with his squad.
One man who perhaps won’t be rotated is Victor Osimhen, the Super Eagles’ star man. Osimhen has established himself as one of the best strikers in world football over the past couple of seasons and his three goals last time out for his country moved him to fourth in the all-time top goalscorer stakes.
Alongside Osimhen, Peseiro has several other exciting forwards who will play a part against Saudi Arabia. Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho joined up with the squad later than expected so he may have to start on the bench which means Victor Okoh Boniface could get the nod to partner Osimhen up front.
Nigeria predicted lineup
Uzoho, Osayi-Samuel, Bassey, Ebuehi, Torunarigha, Ndidi, Iwobi, Onyeka, Lookman, Osimhen, Boniface
Nigeria predicted lineup vs Saudi Arabia – Our top three
Victor Osimhen – The star man
Victor Osimhen is the star of this Nigeria team and the international break can’t have come at a better time for the Napoli striker. Osimhen has been involved in some in-house drama in Italy relating to a couple of TikTok videos made about him and rumours continue to swirl about his future in Naples.
The situation hasn’t been helped by Napoli’s poor start to the season, although Osimhen can hardly be blamed for that considering he has netted six goals in the first eight league games of the season. Regardless of all that, the 24-year-old loves representing his country and has scored five goals in his last two matches for the Super Eagles.
Osimhen has a chance to move into second in Nigeria’s all-time top goalscorer list this week. He currently has 20 to his name and trails Obafemi Martins in 3rd by one goal and Segun Odegbami by three goals.
Wilfried Ndidi – Legs in midfield
Wilfried Ndidi had a poor season last year for Leicester City as the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League but he has started life in the Championship in much better form. He has proven to be a key player for Enzo Maresca and will continue to be a key one for Nigeria too in the heart of the midfield.
Calvin Bassey – Leader at the back
Calvin Bassey hasn’t exactly hit the ground running at Fulham after his summer move from Ajax but there is a feeling that it is only a matter of time until the defender becomes a regular in Marco Silva’s lineup. Bassey has only made four league appearances for Fulham but will look to to build some confidence for his national team this week.
Will Kelechi Iheanacho play against Saudi Arabia?
Kelechi Iheanacho was a late arrival to Portugal this week so his status ahead of the match with Saudi Arabia is up in the air. It isn’t out of the question that he plays from the start, although he is more likely to start on the bench.
Nigeria predicted lineup vs Saudi Arabia – The final word
Nigeria should have too much firepower up front for Saudi Arabia, however, the Green Falcons are sure to be defensively organised under the guidance of Roberto Mancini. Despite that, we expected Nigeria to wear them down over 90 minutes and to win 2-0.
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