Lobi Stars Look to Blow Away Wydad Casablanca

Lobi Stars will be desperate to return to winning ways when they welcome Wydad Casablanca of Morocco to Nnamdi Azikwe Stadium for a 2019 CAF Champions League group stage fixture on Friday evening.

The Nigerians sit third on the group standings with three points gained from their 2-1 win over Mamelodi Sundowns while Wydad are at the top of the group, with a goal difference separating the two sides.

The Solomon Ogbeide’s coached outfit will be without prolific goal scorer Yaya Kone, who suffered a knee injury in a Nigeria Professional Football League match last weekend.

Stars are hopeful he could still make the game in front of the home fans but at the moment he is a major doubt ahead of the tie.

It will be interesting to see whether their skipper, Michael Stephen, will command another start as he was disappointing in the previous Champions League match away to Asec Mimosas.

The match will be a make or break for Lobi as a loss would dampen their hopes of making it into the knockout phases.

Wydad are also faced by the same dilemma following their 2-1 defeat away to Sundowns last time out. They also have three points after two matches.

The Moroccans are known to be an attacking side and have promised to get a vital away win, but will have to be wary of the so-called minnows away in Lagos.

They beat Kawkab Marrakech 3-1 in the Moroccan Botola last weekend in a match that they fought back from a goal down where strikes from Mohammed Ounajem, Achraf Dari and Yahya Jabrane earned them the win.

Liberian forward William Jebor is expected to start as the lone man in attack as he continues the search for his first goal in the group phase of the Champions League. He will likely partner with Ounajem and Walid El Karti, both of whom have one goal each in the competition.

Wydad have an excellent record against Nigerian teams in continental club matches having won three of their previous games.