After a long but eventful international break which saw Sunday Oliseh depose Vincent Enyeama as Nigeria’s captain, Ahmed Musa emerge as the new Super Eagles skipper, Nigeria lose to Congo and then redeem self by beating Cameroun, it is good to have the order and excitement of the English Premier League back.
10 games will be played from Saturday to Monday with a couple of Nigerians back in the mix of the drama.
Tottenham v Liverpool
Nigerian-born Dele Alli will hope to continue his fine run in the Spurs first team when Liverpool visit London in the first tie of the weekend.
The youngster, who has opted however to play for the England national team instead of the Super Eagles, knows not what to expect from a Liverpool side that recently replaced Brendan Rodgers with the eccentric Jurgen Klopp.
It promises to be a cracking encounter.
Watford v Arsenal
On paper, this is a game Arsenal should win without breaking a sweat. The FA Cup kings are coming on the back of a total annihilation of Manchester United and no one would expect a Premier league newcomer to offer much of a resistance.
But Watford are no pushovers and in Odion Ighalo, they have a potent weapon to shoot down the London highflyers.
The Nigerian striker is in a hot streak and has already bagged five goals in eight games this season. No Arsenal player has more. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Sterling would have been praised to the heavens with that much tally.
Against the Gunners, though, Ighalo faces his toughest test so far and with the help of teammates and manager, they can pull off a great win that could define their season as candidates for the drop or a genuine EPL team.
Crystal Palace v West Ham
Victor Moses returns to the club where he first made his name as a footballer as Crystal Palace host West Ham also on Saturday.
Both teams have enjoyed strong starts to the season, with Palace sitting comfortably in fourth and the visitors not doing so badly in sixth.
Nigerian-born Italian defender, Angelo Ogbonna could also feature for West Ham after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Victor Moses has been instrumental to West Ham’s attacking play this season having scored once and assisted a further two and the Hammers will be counting on the winger to produce the magic against Palace.
Swansea v Stoke
The last match of the week sees Mark Hughes take his under-achieving side to Swansea on Monday night.
Stoke lost the corresponding fixture by two goals last season when they still had Victor Moses on their payroll and will look to another Nigerian to power them to victory this time around.
It’s not clear yet if Osaze Odemwiengie will make the team list for the game as he is recovering from an injury that has kept him out of contention this season.
The Potters, who have been shy in front of goal, obviously missed the Nigerian and will hope that the return of key man Bojan Krkic would lessen the goalscoring burden on Seneal’s Diouf.
