Nigeria and Argentina are facing each other in an absolutely crucial match from Group D

Let’s move our attention to St. Petersburg, where the teams of Nigeria and Argentina are facing each other in an absolutely crucial match from Group D of the World Cup. These are our winning soccer predictions for the clash.

The situation in this group is very interesting. Croatia are 99% winning it, but Nigeria, Iceland and Argentina still have chances to reach the 1/8-finals. Nigeria are second with 3 points, while Iceland and Argentina have just one point each. This means that Nigeria can finish second even if they make a draw against Albiceleste, but only if Iceland doesn’t beat Croatia with a big difference in the other game.

The Super Eagles had a rocky start of the World Cup, losing against Croatia. In the second game against Iceland the manager Gernot Rohr switched the tactical system to 3-5-2, which was a successful decision. Two goals from Ahmed Musa led to a 2-0 win, which kept Nigeria’s chances of progressing to the next round. Now they have to make the final step against Argentina.

We can say a lot of things about this Argentinian team. Clearly things are not working well for the Albiceleste, who won just one point from the two games against Iceland and Croatia. The Argentinians are clearly in a moment of crisis and the manager Jorge Sampaoli still doesn’t know what exactly to do in this situation. Sampaoli tried two different formations against Iceland and Croatia, but both of them didn’t work. Now he could once again change the formation, switching to 4-3-3. At least according to the press.

Some journalists are reporting that most likely Jorge Sampaoli is going to include Juventus’ striker Gonzalo Higuain in the starting eleven. In the first two games he preferred Sergio Aguero, who have scored Argentina’s only goal since the start of the tournament. Another player who could recieve Sampaoli’s trust is Sevilla’s midfielder Ever Banega, who shall increase the team’s creativity in midfield.

It was really interesting in Argentina’s camp after the 0-3 loss against Croatia. Some medias reported that the players want Jorge Sampaoli to be sacked before the game against Nigeria. Well, obviously this didn’t happen, so Sampaoli is going to lead the team once again. But he has really a lot of problems to deal with. One of them is inspiring the captain Leo Messi to do better. The Barcelona superstar had two afwul games so far and even missed a penalty against Iceland. If Messi doesn’t improve against Nigeria, it would be really difficult for Albiceleste to reach the next phase of the World Cup.

Surely the goalkeeper Willy Caballero will be replaced by River Plate’s Franco Armani. Caballero was terrible in the World Cup so far, so most likely he’s going to sit on the bench against Nigeria. The lack of a capable goalkeeper is one of Argentina’s biggest problems at ths World Cup. The starting №1 Sergio Romero injured himself before the start of the tournament, which have put Sampaoli in a difficult situation.

These are our winning soccer predictions for the World Cup game between Nigeria and Argentina from Group D. It’s all clear what’s going on here – Nigeria could qualify even with a draw, while Argentina need to win at any cost. In order to do this, they must play much better than they already did against Iceland and Croatia. And they really need to see Lionel Messi much more inspired than he was so far in the competition. On the other hand we have a strong and motivated Nigerian team, which will not lose this game without a proper fight.