FIVE African Stars to Watch in the UCL tonight!

Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly (L) and Sampdoria's Albin Ekdal in action

Wednesday Oct 02, 2019. 14:00

AfricanFootball.com takes a look at FIVE African Stars to keep an eye on in match day two of the UEFA Champions League tonight.

Mbwana Samatta (KRC Genk)

The Tanzania international has been one of the standout players in the Belgium Pro League over the last few seasons and heads into Wednesday’s game having already scored and assisted a goal in the Champions League group stages this season.

In total, Samatta has scored already scored six goals in 10 games this season, adding to the 32 in netted across all competitions in the previous campaign. If he continues on this trend, it is only a matter of time before a top European club comes knocking.

Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)

The Senegal international will make a return to his former employers on the back of another eye-catching performance in shutting out the defending champions Liverpool in Naples last month.

Koulibaly is not only the best defender in Italy, but one of the top centre-backs in world football. He scored three goals in 92 appearances for the Belgium Pro League club before his move to Italy five years ago.

Victor Osimhen (Lille)

The Nigeria international has been one of the standout forwards across the European continent this season. Osimhen has scored six goals in nine matches this season, following his move to the French Ligue 1 club from RSC Charleroi in August.

He has gone a long way in filling the void left by Nicolas Pepe and will now be setting his sights on gunning down Chelsea.

Joel Matip (Liverpool)

While fellow African stars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah usually grab the headlines, it would be wrong not to mention the impact the former Cameroon international has had on the Reds’ success.

Matip has grown from strength-to-strength under Jurgen Klopp and is now not only the obvious choice alongside Virgil van Dijk, but also one of the first players on the team sheet.

Hakim Ziyech (Ajax Amsterdam)

The Moroccan midfielder was one of the star players for the Dutch champions in their memorable run to the semifinals last season. He continues to from an integral part of the Ajax squad having failed to secure a move elsewhere in the off season.

In total, Ziyech has already scored four goals and assisted a further seven this season , a tally he will be hoping to add to away to Valencia this evening.