Nigeria will hope to get their CAF World Cup qualifying campaign off to a winning start when they welcome Lesotho to Godswill Akpbio Stadium for their opening Group C clash on Thursday.
In what many consider the group of death, Nigeria are favourites to top the standings ahead of Benin and South Africa, while their opponents here, along with Rwanda and Zimbabwe, are certainly capable of pulling off upsets.
Despite conceding a 1-0 home defeat to Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria topped their group at the AFCON qualifiers with relative ease, winning their other five matches to edge out The African Wild Dogs by two points.
The Super Eagles flexed their attacking muscles in that tournament as well, ending as the highest-scoring team with 22, which included a 6-0 demolition of Sao Tome and Principe.
Nigeria are now undefeated in their last five matches across all competitions, securing four victories and a draw, with a 2-2 result against Saudi Arabia and a 3-2 away win against Mozambique in friendly matches since the AFCON qualifiers.
The African heavyweights were bitterly disappointed to miss out on qualification for the last World Cup when Ghana beat them on away goals, and they will be determined to make amends this time around.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
