Sampaoli’s stragglers meet soaring Eagles

Despite denying reports of mutiny, Argentina likely to ring in changes against Nigeria

NIZHNYNOVGOROD: It’s not a situation Argentina are familiar with and for all their vehement denials of reports of rift between the players and the coach, they refuse to go away.

So, even after Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia addressed a press conference saying all is well, it did little to stop the rumours from swirling around before Tuesday’s must-win tie against Super Eagles Nigeria in St Petersburg.

According to a number of reports, in the aftermath of a fallout with coach Jorge Sampaoli, Sergio Aguero is set to be dropped. Aguero had reacted to Sampaoli’s comment that the players had failed to adapt to his style following the 0-3 loss to Croatia by telling a television channel: “Let him say what he wants.”

Regardless of his relationship with the players, Sampaoli will be expected to ring in changes. After the Argentina midfield being overrun by Croatia, it looks unlikely that Enzo Perez would start again. But Mascherano is one of Sampaoli’s more trusted players and is expected to keep his place. That said, it would be interesting to see how Sampaoli — so sure in his decisions four years ago while helming Chile — deals with the midfield conundrum. Ever Banega has yet to start a game but with Argentina struggling at the centre of the park, he would be expected to feature against Nigeria.

So could Angel di Maria, who has often been a creative force for the national team playing in a midfield-three but had disappeared against Iceland and was dropped against Croatia. Paulo Dybala and Cristian Pavon too will be in contention to start.

In contrast to Argentina, Nigeria are on a high after the 2-0 win against Iceland in their last game with Ahmed Musa scoring a brace. Having started off with a 0-2 loss to Croatia, Gernot Rohr’s side looked more creative going forward against Iceland and will be confident of their chances against opponents who seem to be disintegrating. But Nigeria know that a draw may not be enough to take them to the knockout rounds should Iceland beat Croatia in the group’s other game.

Rohr changed his formation after Nigeria’s loss to Croatia. John Obi Mikel, who was played out of position as a No 10, a move that drew criticism from his former manager at Chelsea Jose Mourinho, was given a deeper role against Iceland. That helped Nigeria take control of the midfield and against an Argentina side that has struggled in that area so far, Mikel could well stamp his influence on the game.

With a midfield-heavy 3-5-2 formation, Nigeria will fancy their chances against Sampaoli’s team. When the two teams faced each other in a friendly last November, Nigeria won 4-2.

The circumstances are different ahead of Tuesday’s game but Nigeria will know this could be their best chance of ending their four-game losing streak to Argentina at the World Cup.