Preview: Liberia vs. Nigeria - prediction, team news, lineups

Nigeria’s Super Eagles play against Liberia and Cape Verde in their final games in Group C of the African qualifying section of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers,  BSNSports.com.ng reports. The Super Eagles will first take on Liberia on Saturday, November 13, before hosting Cape Verde three days later in Lagos. Nigeria currently lead Group C with nine points, two ahead of nearest challengers Cape Verde. The Super Eagles need just a win from their final two matches to seal their place in the playoff round. Gernot Rohr’s men can achieve this if they beat Liberia at the Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangiers. The three-time African champions will feel confident, having beaten the same opponents 2-0 in the reverse fixture last September. Match preview After missing out on a place in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations by just two points, Liberia were denied a dream start to their World Cup qualifiers as they fell to a 2-0 loss against Nigeria in September's reverse fixture. Peter Butler's men quickly moved on from that result as they edged out Central African Republic 1-0 three days later courtesy of Kpah Sherman's 86th-minute strike. However, Liberia failed to build on that performance as they crumbled to successive defeats against Cape Verde in their most recent two outings. This slump in form sees the Lone Stars sit rock-bottom in Group C, and while their chances of making it into the final qualifying round are effectively over, they will fancy their chances of causing an upset on home turf, where they have won four of their last five games and are unbeaten in all but one of their last eight. Meanwhile, after booking their place in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria got their quest for a seventh World Cup appearance underway on a winning note as they saw off Liberia before making it two wins from two four days later against Cape Verde. In that encounter, Victor Osimhen cancelled out Dylan Tavares's 19th-minute opener before Kenny Rocha Santos scored an own goal to hand the Super Eagles all three points. However, this fine run took a slight halt in their subsequent outing, when they were stunned to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Central African Republic on October 7, courtesy of Karl Namnganda's 91st-minute winner. Gernot Rohr's men got their qualifier campaign back on track last time out as they cruised to a 2-0 win over Les Fauves in the second of their two successive meetings thanks to first-half strikes from Leon Balogun and Osimhen. With nine points from four games, Nigeria currently sit top of the pile in Group C, two points ahead of second-placed Cape Verde, and this has been owing to the solid job done at both ends of the pitch as they have scored six goals in that time while letting in two. Next up is an opposing side who they are unbeaten against in 12 of the last 15 meetings between the sides, picking up 10 wins and two draws in that time. Team News The biggest story is the return of Odion Ighalo. Ighalo had retired from international football after the 201 Africa Cup of Nations, but he is back in the squad after almost three years out. Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi are also back after missing the games against CAR last month. At the same time, Samuel Chukwueze returns after missing the September and October games due to an injury. Liberia possible starting lineup: Sanogo; Dweh, Maccornell, Balde; Macauley, Njie, Hellberg, Dorley; Kamara, Sherman, Kosiah Nigeria possible starting lineup: Okoye; Sanusi, Balogun, Troost-Ekong, Aina; Onyeka, Ndidi, Iwobi; Musa, Iheanacho, Osimhen Predictions Nigeria are the favourites on paper, but CAR showed last month an upset is possible. Liberia will take confidence from that and will try to frustrate Gernot Rohr’s men. However, given the perfect condition of the pitch in Tangiers, and the individual qualities the three-time African champions possess, anything other than a victory for the Super Eagles will be embarrassing for Rohr’s team. Nigeria to win and under 3.5