News-EPL, Serie A, La Liga - Nigerian footballers. Exclusive match reviews, recap videos and Match of the Week selections curated by My11.

Naija Super Eagles striker Simy Nwankwo got back to scoring form with a brace, as he leads My11 Round 19 team of the week alongside 39-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who also scored 2 goals.

Goalkeeper:

Alisson Becker | The Brazilian had a quiet night in Liverpool’s clash with Manchester United, but when called upon the second half, he made top-notch saves, including a close-range save from Paul Pogba from 6 yards away. He made 4 saves in all.

Defenders:

Semi Ajayi | Naija Super Eagles defender, Semi Ajayi picks top stadiums to score his goals, and in West Brom’s 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux. He won tackles, interceptions, blocked shots, and a game-high of 8 aerial duels.

John Stones | The rejected stone is now the chief cornerstone, as the England international has now become the star man for Manchester City, and in the Cityzen’s 4-0 thrashing of Eberechi Eze’s Crystal Palace, Stones scored 2 goals.

Alessandro Bastoni | The Italian had a solid game in the biggest game in Italy, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo at bay, in Inter’s 2-0 win over Juventus. He had 6 clearances, more than any other player, and he sent a long pass to Nico Barella to score the second goal.

Midfielder:

Youri Tielemans | The Belgian was in fine form in Leicester City’s 2-0 win over Southampton. He controlled the midfield, playing in front of Wilfred Ndidi, and he gave 3 key passes, which 2 were assists to the goals in the game.

Kevin de Bruyne | Another Belgian with a brilliant performance at the weekend. He was solid in Manchester City’s win and he had an “out of the world” cross to assist the first goal for John Stones, his 100th EPL assist.

Luis Alberto | The Spaniard was in fine form as Lazio defeated Roma in the Rome derby. He was fouled the most in the game, most shots, most key passes, and he got 2 goals to his name.

Lorenzo Insigne | The Napoli captain had a great game as Victor Osimhen’s team thrashed Fiorentina 6-0 in Naples. Almost everything he did was a game-high, from his 95% pass accuracy to his 4 shots. He got 2 goals to his name, and also provided an assist in the match.

Forward:

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | The Gabonese had his best performance of the season in Arsenal’s 3-0 thumping of Newcastle. The Gunners captain scored 2 goals from his 5 shots and also hit the woodwork once.

Simy Nwankwo | The Nigeria Super Eagles striker returned to form in Crotone’s 4-1 win over Benevento. He won the most aerial duels, hit the most shots in the clash, and he got to goals for himself.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic | A definition of old wine, the Swede came back into the starting lineup with a bang. The 39-year-old scored the 2 goals in Milan’s away win over Cagliari, winning and scoring a penalty, before beating the goalkeeper again with his left foot.

Manager:

Antonio Conte | The Italian gaffer outclassed his compatriot Andrea Pirlo in the derby D’italia, and that win showed his team are ready to win the Scudetto. His set up against Juventus made life difficult for Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata to thrive, and Inter got all 3 points after 90 minutes.

Naija Super Eagles stars Samuel Chukwueze and Ramon Azeez will face off as Villarreal will have another opportunity to continue their win streak when they welcome Granada to the Estadio de la Cerámica, popularly known as El Madrigal on Wednesday night.

In the last 12 La Liga meetings between these two teams, Villarreal have won 7 games, while Granada have won just 2, with the remaining 3 games ending in a draw. This fixture last season at the Madrigal ended 4-4.

Villarreal will be without Mario Gaspar, Vicente Iborra, and Alberto Moreno due to injury. Granada, on the other hand, will be without Victor Diaz, Neyder Lozano, and Maxime Gonalons due to injury, while Domingos Duarte will miss out due to suspension.

The Yellow Submarine have dropped points only twice in their last 8 games, and are on a 4-game winning streak, while Granada have lost 3 of their last 8, but they were victorious in their last 2 matches. This looks like a tie the home side will win.

You can catch the game live on DSTV channel 204, SuperSport La Liga on Wednesday, January 20 2021, by 9:30 pm Naija time.

The biggest clash between the most successful teams in England became an anti-climatic encounter as Liverpool against Manchester United ended 0-0 at Anfield on Sunday as both teams played cautious football.

Both teams failed to have a go at each other and kept possessing the ball without penetration. The real chances came in the second half, but goalkeepers Alisson Becker and David De Gea were up to the task, making 4 and 3 saves respectively, to keep clean sheets.

Liverpool have dropped to fourth on the log, 1 point behind second and third, and 1 point ahead of Tottenham – who they will face in 10 days – while Manchester United remain top of the table, 2 points behind city rivals Manchester City, who have a game in hand.

Who do you think will win the EPL this season?

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score for the second game running as he waits for his record, following Juventus’ 2-0 loss to Inter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday night.

Ronaldo thought he scored the opening goal early in the encounter, but it was chalked off for offside, then Arturo Vidal scored the opening goal in the 12th minute from a lovely Nicolo Barella cross. Barella then scored the second goal just 7 minutes after the restart following a long cross-filed pass from defender Alessandro Bastoni.

Ronaldo’s push to become the highest goal scorer of all-time failed again after that loss, and Inter Milan are now joint top with local rivals – who will play their game today – while Juventus missed the chance to go third, and are fifth on the Serie A table.

Do you think Juventus can win the league this season?

This weekend will see the biggest rivalry in England, between the most successful teams in the Premier League, go head to head, as Liverpool will welcome Manchester United to the Anfield Stadium. Here My11 looks at the stats of the best scorers for both clubs.

Top strikers are meant to be the top scorers for clubs, but for Liverpool and Manchester United, it is a different story, Mohammed Salah, who plays mostly from the wings and Bruno Fernandes, who plays from the midfield are the top scorers for the two clubs.

This season, Mo Salah has played 25 matches for Liverpool in all competitions, with 16 coming in the Premier League. In those games, he has scored 17 goals in all – 13 in the EPL – and provided 4 assists.

For Fernandes, he has featured for the Red Devils in 26 games in all competitions, with 17 coming in the EPL. In those games, he has scored 15 goals in all – 11 in the league – and provided 9 assists.

The two players will go head to head on Super Sunday when the Reds lock horns with the Red Devils and fans of the respective clubs will want their star players to turn up.

Who do you think will shine between Salah and Bruno?

Arsenal’s three-game win streak ended, following a goalless draw with London rivals Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

The Eagles were the closest to getting a goal, as James Tomkins’ header from Eberechi Eze’s freekick hit the woodwork. Christian Benteke also forced a save from the Gunners’ goalie Bernd Leno. Arsenal did not get a clear cut chance in the entire 90 minutes.

Arsenal dominated possession in the game but did not create enough chances to win the games, and they missed the chance to go higher on the table with the draw, while Crystal Palace moved above Wolves from 14 to 13.

Do you think Arsenal’s form is over?

The two biggest teams in the Premier League will face off in the top of the table clash as Liverpool will be welcoming Manchester United to the Anfield Stadium on Super Sunday.

In 56 Premier League meetings between these two teams, Liverpool have won 15 games, while Manchester United have won 28 matches, with 13 games ending in a draw. The Red Devils have defeated the Kops just once in their last 5 clashes, with 2 games ending in draws.

Liverpool will be without Diogo Jota, Konstantinos Tsimikas, Joe Gomez, and Virgil Van Dijk due to injury, while Joel Matip and Naby Keita are major doubts for the clash. Manchester United, on the other hand, will be without Phil Jones due to injury, while Anthony Martial, Nemanja Matic, Victor Lindelof, and Marcos Rojo are major doubts for this clash.

Manchester United are top of the table for the first time since 2013 and Liverpool are on a great run at Anfield and a win will take them above the Red Devils. This clash looks like a close encounter that could end in a draw or a narrow win for the Kops

You can catch the game live on DSTV channel 203, SuperSport Premier League on Sunday, January 17 2021, by 9 pm Naija time.

The biggest rivalry in Italian football takes center stage as Inter Milan will be welcoming defending champions Juventus to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the Derby d'Italia on Super Sunday.

In the last 26 Serie A meetings between these two teams, Inter have won 4 games, while Juventus have won 14 matches, with the other 8 games ending in a draw. The Nerazzurri have defeated the Old Lady just once in their last 8 encounters, losing 2 of their last 3 at home.

Inter Milan will be without Stefano Sensi, Matteo Darmian, Danilo D'Ambrosio, Andrea Pinamonti, and Matias Vecino due to injury. Juventus, on the other hand, will be without Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie, and Paulo Dybala due to injury, while Matthijs de Ligt, Juan Cuadrado, and Alex Sandro will miss out due to positive COVID-19 test.

Inter are on a good run of form and are 3 points away from local rivals AC Milan at the top. Juventus, on the other hand, have been inconsistent this season, but with a Cristiano Ronaldo chasing a record as the most prolific goal scorer of all time, it will be difficult for the Nerazzurri to beat the Old Lady. This will be a close call that should end in a draw.

You can catch the game live on DSTV channel 208, SuperSport Variety 3 on Sunday, January 17 2020, by 8:45 pm Naija time.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are regarded as the greatest players of all time, and the debate on who is the best player between them has been on for a very long time. Here we carefully look at their major individual awards.

Before now, the two most important individual awards in football are the Ballon d’Or, which started in 1956, and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, which started in 1991, and ended in 2009 after the world football governing body decided to merge with the Ballon d’Or. Afterwards, FIFA “The Best” was introduced.

Before the two awards merged, Ronaldo and Messi each won both, and after they merged to award the best players between 2010 and 2016, these 2 dominated the award.

After the awards were merged and became FIFA Ballon d’Or, Messi won four, while Ronaldo won two. Then, the awards were separated in 2016, then Cristiano won two Ballon d’Or, and two FIFA The Best awards, while Barcelona and Argentina's captain won the FIFA The Best award and the Golden Ball in 2019.

Below is the breakdown of their awards and the year they won them.

Lionel Messi – 8

Ballon d'Or (2009, 2019) – 2

FIFA player of the year (2009) – 1

FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015) – 4

FIFA The Best (2019) – 1

Cristiano Ronaldo – 8

Ballon d'Or (2008, 2016, 2017) – 3

FIFA player of the year (2008) – 1

FIFA Ballon d'Or (2013, 2014) – 2

FIFA The Best (2016, 2017) – 2

Who is your G.O.A.T between Ronaldo and Messi?

Following impressive performances at the weekend, eleven-time joint Ballon d’Or winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lead round 18 of My11’s team of the week. We have chosen a 3-4-3 formation.

Goalkeeper:

Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Since the start of the 2020/2021 season, keeping a clean sheet has been difficult for Barcelona, and in their 4-0 thumping of Granada, the German shot-stopper made sure he kept a clean sheet, making a total of 4 saves in the encounter.

Defenders:

Achraf Hakimi | The Moroccan is enjoying his new life in Italy, and has been consistent in My11’s team of the week, and this weekend, the former Real Madrid man put up another impressive performance, scoring a beautiful curler with his weak foot from outside the box in Inter’s 2-2 draw away to AS Roma.

Danilo | Another ex-Real Madrid defender showed himself at the weekend, scoring the first goal in Juventus 3-1 win over Sassuolo, before providing an assist for Cristiano Ronaldo late in the game.

Rafael Toloi | The Brazilian had a good game in Atalanta’s 4-1 away victory over Benevento, winning tackles, interceptions, and clearances. He also got his name on the score sheet with the third goal in the encounter.

Midfielder:

Daniel Parejo | The Spaniard again showed why he is one of the best midfielders in La Liga with another masterclass. He had a brilliant midfield control in Villarreal’s 4-0 away win against Celta Vigo. He also scored a goal and provided an assist.

Marcelo Brozovic | Inter Milan played out a two-all draw against Roma in Rome, and one man created both goals for the away side, his name is Brozovic. The Croatian sent in a beautiful cross from the corner kick for the first goal and laid a lovely ball for the second goal.

Tiemoue Bakayoko | The resurgent Frenchman had a very good game as Napoli beat Udinese 2-1 away from home. Bakayoko scored the winning goal in the 90th minute to help Victor Osimhen’s team go back to Naples with all 3 points.

Lionel Messi | The little genius seems to be back in form, scoring 4 goals in his last 2 games. In Barcelona's 4-0 thrashing of Granada, Messi had a “Messi-class” game. He scored his trademark goal, a beautiful curler, and a cheeky freekick a few minutes before the break.

Forward:

Youssef En-Nesyri | The Moroccan stood out in the intense encounter between Sevilla and Real Sociedad, which ended 3-2 for the Seville side. En-Nesyri scored a hat trick to help the Europa League winner pick up all 3 points.

Antoine Griezmann | The Frenchman played arguably his best match for the Catalan giant as he put up an excellent shift. Positioning himself to score the first goal in the encounter, before providing an assist for Messi. Griezmann then scored a brace later in the game to round off his brilliant performance.

Cristiano Ronaldo | The Portuguese is the definition of old wine, and in Juventus’ win over Sassuolo, he showed himself again. The 35-year-old ran half the field to score his 15th league goal of the season in 13 games and became the first player to score at least 15 league goals in 15 consecutive seasons in Europe's top 5 league.

Manager:

Jagoba Arrasate | The Spanish gaffer led his team to pick up a point against Real Madrid against all odds. Osasuna sit 19th on the log, but he set up his side to stop the firepower of the Blancos and they earned a deserved draw. He is our manager of the week.