By
The second round of 2022
World Cup qualifying continues in Africa this week and on Thursday 7th of
October we have a meeting between Nigeria and Central African Republic.
The game will be played
at the Teslim Balogun Stadium and the hosts start the match sitting top of the
group on 6 points from two matches played while the visitors are bottom with 1
point from their two games played.
Happy birthday to @NGSuperEagles’ @67Kelechi! 🎂
🇳🇬 Wish Nigeria’s 2022 #WCQ top
scorer a good day below! 🦅 pic.twitter.com/MBkDN54G04
— CAF (@CAF_Online) October 3, 2021
Nigeria come into the match having
defeated the Cape Verde Islands away in their most recent fixture in September.
Nigeria found themselves a goal down after 19 minutes but scored the equaliser
10 minutes later.
The Super Eagles pushed
for a winner in the second half and it came courtesy of an own goal with just
14 minutes remaining on the clock.
That was the second
victory for Nigeria in 2022 World Cup qualifying following
their 2-0 home win over Liberia. Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City in the
English Premier League scored both the goals in the first half of the match.
Trends show Nigeria have
a good record of 21 undefeated games in their last 23 home encounters in all
competitions. They have won 7 consecutive home World Cup qualifying fixtures
and have been excellent defensively.
Central African
Republic make the trip to the Teslim Balogun Stadium with
work to do in the group if they are going to progress to the third round of
2022 World Cup qualifying.
They started their campaign with a 1-1 draw at home against Cape
Verde Islands and had to stage a fightback in the second half having fallen a
goal behind in the opening 45 minutes.
Central African Republic lost their first home game of the group,
going down 1-0 at the hands of Liberia. It appeared as though nothing was going
to separate the teams but Liberia had other ideas and scored the winning goal
in the 86th minute.
Trends show Central African Rep have a poor away record and they
have achieved just 1 win in their last 18 away games in all competitions.
They have failed to win any of their last 9 World Cup qualifying
matches and have conceded at least 2 goals in each of their last 5 on the road.
Team news and Nigeria have added Union Berlin striker Taiwo
Awoniyi to the squad and he replaces the injured Terem Moffi. Awoniyi joins
Victor Osimhen, Paul Onuachu, and Kelechi Iheanacho as options in attack.
Central African Republic have a mix of domestic league players and
others from the lower leagues in France. Geoffrey Kondogbia of Atletico Madrid
is their star man.
progressing to the third round, Nigeria cannot afford to make any mistakes but
this is a match they should win comfortably.
