Nigeria vs Argentina 27/06/18

27 June 2018

At the Saint-Petersburg Stadium, Argentina will try to save their skin and fight the way to the knockout stage, as they are set to face off against Nigeria, who will only need to avoid defeat to secure their place among the top sixteen teams of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Although they have been widely recognized as one of the principal candidates to at least feature in the semi-finals, the Albiceleste have disappointed not only their fans but the whole world of football, as they’ve failed to beat the debutants, Iceland, in the opening match of Group D that ended in a 1-1 draw. Moreover, the two-time World Cup winners suffered one of the most brutal defeats in their recent history, as Croatia demolished them by three goals to nil, making the lives of Sampaoli, Messi, and the rest of Argentina players quite stressful. On the other hand, Nigeria who struggled against the Blazers in the first round of the group stage managed to raise their game against Iceland, achieving perhaps a vital victory that may see them in the World Cup knockout stage for the second time in a row. Jorge Sampaoli has to come up with something special if looking to boost his squad’s morale ahead of the most important match for Argentina in the last four years.

Paulo Dybala and Ever Banega who spent very little time on the field in the first two matches might be the ones to replace Maximiliano Meza and Enzo Perez, while Angel Di Maria should return in the starting eleven after skipping the game against Croatia. As for the Super Eagles, Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho are expected to be the main threat to Wilfredo Caballero.