The early season front runners for the Italian Serie A title has to be AC Milan and Napoli with both teams stretching their unbeaten run this weekend with hard fought wins.

AC Milan needed a 67th minute penalty scored by veteran striker Olivier Giroud to pick up all three points against Sampdoria, while Napoli had to wait till one minute from full time before clinching all three points against Spezia thanks to Giacomo Raspadori.

Both teams are the only team unbeaten in the league after six games but Atalanta could join them if they pick up a win later today against Cremonese. All eyes is however more on both teams when they face each other next week.

Ahead of the game, both teams will be without their star players in this campaign with Victor Osimhen injured for Napoli and Milan also without suspended forward Rafael Leao who was sent off in today’s game.

Asked about whose absence will be felt the most, coach of AC Milan Stefano Pioli said Leao will be a big miss than the Nigerian with Leao’s potential replacement Ante Rebic also not available. He made this known immediately after the win over Sampdoria.

“Leao and Osimhen absent on Sunday, who loses the most between us and Napoli? Both teams can lose a lot. I honestly think we may lose more of us, because Rebic’s absence is also likely in the same position as Leao. Now we recover our energies, it has been a very busy week”, he said.

” We have a very heavy Champions League match for the group standings, let’s think about that. Then we will try to find solutions to try to make the best of the Napoli match, which is a direct match and which is a great team. We will have our qualities and our characteristics to put in place. It is clear that Rafael is becoming a decisive player for our attacking phase, but I think we will find other solutions, probably with other positions and characteristics ”, he concluded .

The matchday two games of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League will be played this week following the successful completion of matchday one games last week.

Managers will be looking to either consolidate on results achieved in the first set of games or get back to winning games when they play their second group game next week. For that reason they need all their players fit.

Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam started their campaign on a high with a 3-0 thrashing of Scottish side Rangers and will on Tuesday look for another smashing result when they take on Liverpool at Anfield.

Ahead of the game, their Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey suffered an Injury scare which led to his substitution in their 5-0 win over Heerenveen yesterday in the Eredivisie.

Bassey was once again at the heart of the defence for Ajax helping them to their fifth consecutive clean sheet. As a matter of fact they are yet to concede a goal since Bassey made his full debut.

Speaking on the injury, coach Alfred Schreuder played down concerns that Bassey will miss the game on Tuesday saying the Nigeria international only had a knock “Calvin Bassey’s injury is not too bad. He’s okay. It was just a kick”, he said after the game.

Fans of teams around Europe expect newly signed players to hit the ground running especially if they come with a high profile and to a team who are historically ambitious.

Newly signed forward players are expected to get in among the goals or create chances for others and when that doesn’t happen fans and at the time the media will begin to ask questions on the perfomance of the player.

For that reason fans of Hertha Berlin started asking questions of their Nigerian winger Chidera Ejuke who joined the club from Russian side CSKA Moscow, where he took advantage of FIFA’s permission allowing players playing in Russia to pause their contracts and move elsewhere due to the war.

Since his move he has got the eyes with his dribbling runs and take ons which is currently among the best among all top five leagues in Europe, but crucially he left fans of the team frustrated as he had no goal or assist until yesterday when he had his first assist.

Accused of poor decision making he he however made the right decision when he teed up Suat Serdar for their first goal in a 2-2 draw against Bayern Leverkusen. He was subbed off with around twenty two minutes left to play in the game.

Speaking after the game, coach of Hertha Berlin Sandro Schwarz said Ejuke is showing signs of improvement in his decision making in the box urging fans of the team to be patient with the Nigerian.

” It will take a little time but he is a quick learner so it could be a lot faster than we think. He needs time and we all have to be patient with him. The ability to perform at a consistent level is what he can achieve with time”, the coach said.

The practice of football teams bringing back their former players isn’t one that can be said to be popular but it is most times one of the beauties of the round leather game.

Calls for players to be re-signed by their former teams are mostly made when the said player is thriving in a role that his former team lacks and it makes more sense when it comes from a club legend.

Arsenal are currently having a crisis in midfield and legendary Arsenal forward Ian Wright has urged the club to look into the possibility of bringing back Alex Iwobi, who was sold three years ago to Everton.

This season under the guidance of Frank Lampard and in a new role as a central midfielder, Iwobi has excelled in leaps and bounds. Wright says with his performances so far he is the kind of player that Arsenal need. He gave his opinion in the latest episode of the Wrighty’s House podcast posted three days ago.

He said: “I’m so pleased with the way it’s going for him. I remember Arsenal fans, it’s the same thing they did with Oxlade-Chamberlain, they ridiculed him. I remember watching him play in midfield early days for Arsenal at West Ham, and you’re seeing something.

“His ball progression and work rate, what Frank has now recognised him and put him there, listen to the Everton fans when he’s doing his work, they are adoring him now. I’m loving the way it’s working out for Iwobi.

“I’m just talking about somebody who’s making a massive difference to what Everton need – the work rate, his ball progression, his passing, everything. He’s the pass before the assist, people don’t realise it. Everton fans are now starting to realise that if they get the right players in and around him, he’s going to be a force for them.

“You look at his work rate, it’s unbelievable. It’s the kind of intensity that Mikel wants now and needs now, we need that, we (Arsenal)need somebody who can press like that.”

Serving jail time isn’t one of the adventure any human wish to have but a lot of people with criminal record as judged by the justice system have been made to spend time behind bars.

Their freedom is usually a thing of joy for family members with the hope that time spent in jail have helped reformed them for better as they return back to the society to resume their normal life.

Same is the case for the brother of Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey who has been released following his conviction last year on claims that he carried a sword after being attacked by another mobster.

Matthew Bassey who is a rapper and goes by the stage name Y.cb isn’t a stranger to violence as the drill rapper was shot in the head and stabbed around 18 months ago, before he was caught with a knife a year ago and got 20 months conviction.

In a picture on Instagram posted four days ago Y.cb return was made known using a picture alongside Bassey, who is currently the star of Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam. He is also a nail on starter for the senior national team of Nigeria.

Like Calvin, Matthew also played football at a young age with stints at Watford and later Tottenham Hotspur but he lost his way when he decided to join a street gang. He moved into music and he is rated among the best drill rappers in the UK.

When a particular medical condition beats medical advice and timing it’s said to be a miracle as medicine in practice works with specific when it comes to procedures and time to be healed.

However that isn’t the case for Nigeria international winger Moses Simon who was expected to be out for one month with a muscle injury picked up two weeks ago in a Ligue 1 game against Toulouse.

He misses the games against Strasbourg and PSG in the league but returned to the team playing as a substitute in the UEFA Europa League 2-1 win over Greek side Olympiacos. Just ten days into the 30 days he was expected to miss.

Simon is now expected to start later today when they take on Lorient in the league. He was named in the travelling squad for the game which might see as many as three Nigerian players on the pitch with Lorient’s duo of Innocent Bonke and Terem Moffi in contention to play as well.

” The doctors at Nantes can’t explain it. It’s a miracle to all. Usually it takes a month to heal from such muscle injury how Simon made it back in ten days is a huge surprise. The medical team still can’t believe he is back playing”, his close associate Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman said during his sports shows on Kaduna based radio Liberty FM.

36 year old Nigerian goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi is looking forward to adding to his 19 caps for the senior national team of Nigeria after agreeing a move to fellow PSL team Sekhukhune United.

An agreement for the veteran goalkeeper to join the team was said to be reached two days ago and it is expected to be officially announced next week with the 15th placed team in need of experience to help stabilise their season.

Akpeyi is joining the team on a free transfer from top PSL side Kaizer Chiefs where his contract ran out in July. He played 69 games during his time at the club he joined in 2019 from Chippa United but he wasn’t selected for the final six months of his stay at the club.

Two months ago he said his absence in the national team camp of Nigeria is due to his stuttering club career but with his move to Sekhukhune United, a return to the team will no doubt be part of his aims as he settles in his new environment.

“Being without a club is new for me since 2005 so must just be mentally strong. I give glory to God that he has been granting me strength to be able to go through this period,” Akpeyi revealed to Kick Off in July.

“In the past, I wouldn’t be in all of the pre-season training because of national team commitments but the situation is different now since I’m not with a club”.

Letting a player leave is sometimes the best options but when the player go on to become a success elsewhere, questions will no doubt be asked about the decision and also those who made it.

That is certainly the case with Leicester City and the decision to let Nigeria international defender Calvin Bassey leave the club for free two years ago. He has since gone on to become one of the best young defenders in Europe.

He followed up his breakthrough season at Rangers by posting man of the match display in all of the games he has played for his new team Ajax, the team he joined in the summer. He made his Champions League debut against his old team and his performance led to talks about how he rose to his present level.

Bassey was turned down by the likes of Leyton Orient and Barnet as a youngster but Bill Wall, one of the most respected scouts in the game, saw his potential and he helped Leicester City, who faced no competition in signing the youngster but were excited to get the deal done.

Leicester City lost Bassey to Rangers for minimal compensation in the summer of 2020 after he turned down the offer of a new contract. He did so because City’s coaching staff, including then under-23s boss Steve Beaglehole, saw Bassey’s future as a centre-back. Bassey put his foot down, insisting he wanted to be a left-back, and departed without reaching an agreement.

At Rangers he was modelled from a left back to a centre back same role he refused to accept as his best role. The joy for Leicester City academy handlers is that he is excelling in a role they thought is his favourite year ago, however they would have love it the more if he is representing them as they have a crisis in defence.

The goalkeeper department of the senior national team of Nigeria is one that many will say is still open for anyone to stake claim to the position of the number one of the team.

Presently the two goalkeepers seen as first and second choice options Francis Uzoho and Maduka Okoye are presently struggling to have game time for their respective teams in Europe.

Although they are still expected to be in any future squad of the team but one player is prime to challenge their status if he gets a chance under new coach Jose Peseiro, OwnGoalNigeria.com understands.

On loan Arsenal goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo has caught the eyes at English League One side Crewe Alexandra with three clean sheets in eight games.  His performances has led to talks of an imminent decision on his international career.

We asked a member of his management crew and we got to hear that Okonkwo is at the stage of his career where he is open to pushing for a spot in the senior national team of Nigeria. However he will continue to play for England unless he is called up by Nigeria.

” He is 21 and that’s about the time to make up your mind on what you want for your future. For now the focus is on doing well for Crewe and also the English youth teams but if a call comes from Nigeria then a decision will be reached swiftly. It’s a no brainer”, he replied when quizzes on the player’s future.

The most talked about forward in world football since the start of the new football season across the top five leagues in Europe has to be Erling Haaland after his recent run in front of goal for Manchester City.

Haaland has scored ten goals in just six games in the English Premier League in what is his first season in the English Premier League following his move from German side Borussia Dortmund in the summer.

So it comes across as a huge compliment when a forward is compared to the Norwegian when it comes to making deadly move around the box, especially when it comes from an established player like David Silva.

Silva who is now teammates to Nigeria international forward Sadiq Umar at Real Sociedad believes the Nigerian carries same threat like Haaland who is the lead striker for his former team Manchester City.

” You ask my opinion and I will say he is improving in all aspects of his game. Same as Haaland? I don’t like to compare players but he can be as deadly in the box. Very composed and knows where to be making it easy but it isn’t if you attempt it”, he said.