Super Eagles predicted starting lineup vs Egypt : Ex-Chelsea, Liverpool stars; Aribo in:: All Nigeria Soccer

Three-time African champions Nigeria will face Egypt in their first Group D game of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Tuesday evening with a slightly different lineup different from the one most football faithful in Nigeria predicted before the turn of the new year.

Serie A side Napoli,  struggling English Premier League side Watford and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Shabab all vehemently refused to release the trio of Victor Osimhen, Emmanuel Dennis and Odion Ighalo for the tournament .

Whether it was indeed administrative errors or not, Nigeria won’t prosecute the Afcon with the fearsome three.

Ahead of the match against the Pharaohs, allnigeriasoccer.com presents the predicted lineup that interim coach Austin Eguavoen will parade.

Goalkeeper: Maduka Okoye

Erstwhile Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr handed Maduka Okoye the first choice gloves ahead of Francis Uzoho and Daniel Akpeyi after the former suffered a long-term injury shortly after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Okoye has cemented his place as the first choice goalkeeper and that will continue in Cameroon.

Defenders

Right Back: Ola Aina

Chelsea academy product Ola Aina is most likely to slot in at the right back position especially as Shehu Abdullahi is not in the team and Chidozie Awaziem now one of the central defensive options following the absence of injured Leon Balogun.

Left Back: Zaidu Sanusi

Zaidu Sanusi was one of the early birds in the Super Eagles’ Abuja camp and his rival for the position, Jamilu Collins, was never there until on Monday evening.

That, and for the fact that Zaidu plays for Porto in the Portuguese league, one of the best leagues in the world, as against Collins’ Paderborn in the second-tier in Germany should give the Nigerian jersey number 12 the starting slot.

Central Defence: Kenneth Omeruo, William Troost Ekong

The central defensive partnership of William Troost Ekong and Leon Balogun will not be on show in Cameroon no thanks to the injury of the Glasgow Rangers man, Balogun.

In his stead, former Chelsea star Kenneth Omeruo is ready to step forward and play as the libero in the Eagles back line.

William Troost-Ekong is the vice captain of the team and he is expected to start against Egypt.

Troost-Ekong plays for Watford in the English Premier League, has played against Mohamed Salah and would be keen to face the Liverpool forward.

Midfielders

Wilfred Ndidi, Joe Aribo, Chidera Ejuke

Leicester City defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is arguably the best in his position on the African continent and he is definitely going to start on Tuesday unless he breaks his legs before kickoff.

Joe Aribo has not won over most Nigerian fans who feel his style of play is not compatible with the ‘tough’ nature of African football. But the languid midfielder is set to start on Tuesday going by the team’s trainings.

Dribbling wizard Chidera Ejuke is officially one of the finest dribblers in world football and Austin Eguavoen has hinted that he could take up the creative midfield role.

Attackers

Kelechi Iheanacho, Ahmed Musa, Taiwo Awoniyi

The Eagles will not have the services of Osimhen, Dennis and Ighalo at the Nations Cup as earlier stated so there will be be a different front three against Egypt.

From the trainings and the practice match against Coton Sport, Taiwo Awoniyi is likely to lead the attack.

Awoniyi will be supported by the duo of Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa.

Izuchukwu Michael