Duro Ikhazuagbe
Victor Osimhen will be hoping to truly announce his arrival on the big stage of European football at Anfield this evening when Napoli battle Liverpool in their final UEFA Champions League Group A match.
Nothing is at stake as teams are already assured of a place in the last 16.
With maximum 15 points from five matches in the group, the Italian league leaders will be guaranteed they top the group if Osimhen and his teammates again conjure the form that earned them victory against the struggling Reds at Anfield tonight.
Liverpool with 12 points from same number of matches will need to beat Napoli by four goals or more to book top spot. Anything else, and the Italian side win the group going into the knock out phase of the money spinning phase of the top club competition in Europe.
The 23-year-old’s Osimhen at the weekend fired his first treble in the 4-0 annihilation of Sassuolo and helped Napoli extend their lead at the top of the Italian topflight.
He scored twice in the first 19 minutes and dinked in his third 13 minutes from time to make it seven league goals this season – and give him a share of first place in the Golden Boot race with Austrian Marko Arnautovic.
“That was my first professional hat-trick so I’m really excited about it,” Osimhen told BBC Sport Africa yesterday.
“It’s been a great return after a few challenges at the start of the season and hopefully I can continue this form.
“As a striker you always want to help your team so I want to stay hungry for more.”
Osimhen spent over a month out with a thigh injury but has scored six goals in his past four outings across all competitions since his return.
He has become the fifth African to score a hat-trick Italian Serie A after Liberia’s George Weah (for AC Milan in 1998), Cameroon’s Patrick Mboma (Cagliari in 1999), Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (AS Roma in 2016) and Senegal’s Keita Balde (Lazio in 2017).
That form is what Neapolitans want to see this evening as Napoli continue their unbeaten run this season.
Today
Liverpool v Napoli (9pm)
Rangers v Ajax (9pm)
Leverkusen v C’Bruges (6:45pm)
Porto v Atletico Madrid (6:4pm
B’ Munich v Inter Milan(9pm)
Viktoria Plzen v Barcelona (9pm)
Marseille v Tottenham (9pm)
Sporting Lisbon v E’ Frankfurt (9pm)
Wednesday
Chelsea v Dinamo Zagreb (9pm)
AC Milan v Salzburg (9pm)
Real Madrid v Celtic (6:45pm)
Shakhtar v Leipzig (6:45pm)
Man City v Sevilla (9pm)
Copenhagen v Dortmund (9pm)
Juventus v PSG
Maccabi Haifa v Benfica (9pm)
