Leicester, Southampton, Everton, Nottingham Forest, these teams are fighting to stay in the Premier League. Their common denominator is that they each have many Africans in their ranks.
Leicester: The breeding ground for African hopefuls
Leicester, the English champions in 2016 and a team that last year was fighting for a place in the Champions League, has some great African players in its ranks. Among them, the Nigerian international midfielder Wilfried Ndidi. A player who, with Ngolo Kanté, is over the last 5 years one of the best retrievers of the Premier League. At his side, with the status of a substitute, Nampalys Mendy, Senegalese midfielder and African champion. And the list is not exhaustive, the Foxes attack has in its ranks African players whose futures were announced bright. This is the Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho who made his name at Manchester City. The latter scored no less than 55 goals with his team Leicester.
He shares the front line with Zambian Patson Daka, another great African hope, who had done wonders at Red Bull Salzburg. Less dashing since his arrival in England but whose talent is not in doubt. Leicester lost its match against Fulham on Monday (5-3). The team currently occupies the 18th place in the general classification. In its marathon for the maintenance, it will receive respectively Liverpool, then will go to Newcastle, and finally will close its championship at West Ham.
Everton: 3 star midfielders fail to shine!
Everton, which will fight until the end for the maintenance, has in its ranks many African players of reference. Among them is the Senegalese Idrissa Gana Gueye, who went from fighting for the title and Champions League nights with PSG to playing for survival in England. His career choice is to be questioned at this level. There is also Abdoulaye Doucouré, the Malian midfielder who has been in recent years in England on the side of Watford. A sure value of the Premier League, to the point of having been courted by very large clubs. Small details have prevented him from joining the biggest teams without doing injustice to Everton.
But still in the middle of Everton's world-class, at least in terms of names, is Alex Iwobi, a magnificent technician and who had a good record with Arsenal. He is always capable of flashes of brilliance, which informs about his talent not exploited to its fullest expression. Today all his players of the Blues risk the descent, and nothing guarantees their recruitment in the elite in case of effectiveness of this scenario of the descent. Which, if true, would be a stain on their CVs. Everton won their first final on Monday against Brighton which allowed them to get out of the red zone. They are now 17th with 32 points. They still have to host Manchester City, then they will go to Wolverhampton. They will finish their championship at home against Bournemouth. A crazy schedule, which does not encourage optimism for the maintenance of Everton in the Premier League, given its season, defensive problems and the attack in almost failure. But this remark may no longer be valid with the XXL performance against Brighton this Monday (1-5).
Nottingham Forest: West Africans in survival battle
Nottingham is the current 16th of the Premier League after its precious victory over Southampton far from being synonymous with maintenance. Many African players are confirmed in the squad of this team that will have to fight until the end (3 points more than the first relegation) to maintain itself. These African players involved in the fight are : Serge Aurier the captain of the Ivorian selection who so far has had an honorable career. His teammate is Cheikhou Kouyate, an experienced player in England (West Ham, Crystal Palace), one of the core players of Aliou Cissé with Senegal. But also Andre Ayew, the Ghanaian one of the greatest African players of the last 20 years is threatened. Moussa Niakhaté, the central defender who recently made his debut with the Senegalese team is also present. He joined England to take a step forward. A descent would risk causing the opposite effect and pose risks for his career in the national team.
Finally, the Nigerian strikers Emmanuel Dennis and Taiwo Awoniyi are also present in the squad. Players who have few caps for the national team and who could see with the descent of their team, their hope of settling down in the national team become distant. In the last corner of the championship, Nottingham receives Southampton this Monday at 19:00 GMT, a direct opponent for the maintenance. They will then go to Chelsea. Then they will host Arsenal, to finish the season at Crystal Palace. A schedule more than difficult.
Southampton: The team of African hopefuls whose progress is threatened
Southampton has in its team as African players, the promising Ghanaian Kamaldeen Sulemana, the talented Malian Moussa Djenepo who is slow to confirm all the potential detected in him. But also Paul Onuachu and Joe Ayodele Aribo, Nigerian players.
Southampton (24 points), unlike the other teams, seems to be promised to join the lower echelon of English soccer. To say that their maintenance at the end of their season would be a miracle. They occupy the last place in the championship and are 8 points behind the first non-relegated, Leeds. And there are 3 days left. Southampton could have been back on track today, for the beginning of the final four, but they lost at Nottingham Forest (4-3). They will then play at home against Fulham. For the penultimate day, they will travel to Brighton. They will finish their season at home against Liverpool.
Stressful and breathless end of the season
The end of the season in England promises drama and intense suspense. Up to six teams are playing for survival and are within 1 or 2 points of each other. And all of them have very tough schedules. The fans who manage to keep their teams in the league will be just as happy, if not happier, than the team that triumphs in the league. Everyone has their emotions! It must also be said that many African nationalities are glued to this exciting final. For reason, many ambassadors of African selections, and not the least, are engaged in this stressful struggle.
