It is Friday Morning and it means the world is getting ready for another round of football. We are used to Bundesliga’s Friday night football but the CAF Champions League has presented an opportunity for us to enjoy Friday Noon Football. Fear not, it will be fun.

Enyimba have travelled to Kampala to face Ugandan Champions Vipers FC. The game will be played by 2pm Nigerian time. Enyimba FC are record 7 times champions of Nigeria with 2 CAF Champions League title in their trophy cabinet. The Nigerian elephants have strengthened their squad and are expected to brush aside the Ugandan champions. Their reception in Uganda was poor and can be seen as a strategy to weaken the Nigerians but they have the will to overcome. Will Enyimba come back winners? You can ask ThatEnyimbaFan. Other continental matches with respect to Nigeria include:

  • Warri Wolves vs Praia Cruz (Sao Tome and Principe) – CAF Champions League
  • V. Club Mokanda (Congo) vs Akwa United – CAF Confederation Cup
  • Nasarawa United vs Generation Foot (Senegal) – CAF Confederation Cup

In 9 days, the 2016 Nigerian Professional Football League will kick off with juicy fixtures. There are a lot of logistics yet to be finalized. The Super Four can be seen as a success because all four teams involved are in continental action this weekend. The LMC will expect at least 3 victories out of 4 but the major challenge will be the League that will kick off next weekend. There been issues with welfare and sponsorship and I wonder if 9 days will be enough for these issues to be rectified. Will the 20 teams be eligible to start the league?

Nigerian football is like a seasonal Hollywood movie – so many twists and turns. Too many times you end up not being surprised. Few days ago Coach of the Super Eagles was raining fire and brimstone on his blog calling all and sundry insane for criticizing him. I have never seen a coach that has never been criticized. The great ones have had their share of all manner of criticism – Fergie, Wenger, Scolari etc. The inexperienced one has sent an apology to the NFF and to Nigerians on twitter – I wonder why he didn’t do that on his vlog. The Glass House has slammed him with a $30,000 fine. Ironically he is owed 5 months’ salary. This tea is sweet.

Away from the beauty of Nigerian football, there is a super Sunday clash at the Emirates where Arsenal is expected to welcome league leaders, Leicester City. The Gunners are 5 points behind and any result other than a win will be classified as a failure for Arsene Wenger. Arsenal must reignite the form that gave them a 5-2 victory over the Foxes in the first leg earlier in the season. There will be no room for excuses.

Cech should start in goal, Bellerin and Monreal will flack the center backs as usual. I will expect koscienly and Gabriel to continue against Leicester City especially seeing the pace of Vardy spearheading the Foxes’ attack. I will not love to see Flamini against Mahrez. He can take his billions to the bench, nurse El Neny’s baby and allow Coquelin break every blue move in the middle of the pack. Wenger can even decide to play Coquelin and El Neney. Who knows?

Upfront, Giroud may continue as the head but Walcott will be itching to play. His pace will be of great asset. Alexis and Campbell will support from the wings with Ozil the Crème de la crème in the hole behind.

If Arsenal will win the Premier League this year, they must beat Leicester City on Sunday. Shikena. After that we can think about the Catalan Army.

Time for breakfast – would you like some fries? Grabs a copy of the Sunderland Echo – Adam Jonzing.

Advertisement