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.
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.
Nigeria have kept 6 clean sheets in their last 7 home World Cup qualifying matches, including each of the last 3 played on home soil.
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.
With only one team progressing to the third round, Nigeria cannot afford to make any mistakes. They should win comfortably.
Sportsgetto expects to see Nigeria keep a clean sheet and score at least 2 goals on their way to victory.