Africans to watch this weekend

Serge Aurier

The compactness of this season’s Premier League window means a few bad results could lead to a shift in expectations in a blink.

This has largely been the fate of Aurier and Tottenham Hotspur in recent gameweeks, evidenced by a run of four league games in succession without a win.

Indeed, the upshot for Jose Mourinho’s side has been the swiftness with which pundits have removed them as possible title contenders despite being seven points behind with a game in hand.

The Lilywhites face Leeds United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium aware of the danger Marcelo Bielsa’s team possess, looking to prevent their recent run without success from extending to five games on the trot.

Edouard Mendy

Like Tottenham, Chelsea’s recent run has also led to observers striking their name off league contention.

The Blues have lost three of their last four games, with Mendy coming in for some criticism for his recent sloppiness and lack of composure in certain phases of play.

There’s a suggestion that he could have prevented Aston Villa’s equalizer last time out as well and the Senegal star will look to prove his worth in Sunday’s encounter with Manchester City.

While the encounter may well be postponed — if City record new positive coronavirus cases before January 3 — there’s an expectation that the game at Stamford Bridge will go ahead.

Hakim Ziyech could make a return for Frank Lampard’s team, and his return will be timely as he’s been badly missed since hobbling off against Leeds United in early December.

Andre Ayew vs Sarr

After securing a colossal win over Championship leaders Norwich City in their final game of 2020, Ismaila Sarr has another chance to inspire Watford to another victory against promotion contenders Swansea City.

However, Ayew won’t be so generous against the Hornets as the Swans look to continue their current unbeaten run which stands at three, where they’ve picked up seven points from a possible nine.

The Ghana star has been involved in 10 of Swansea’s 25 goals this season and he’s got a chance to add to that tally against Xisco’s team that could leapfrog the third-placed side with a victory.

Achraf Hakimi

Inter Milan looked strong in Serie A before the short hiatus, and Hakimi and his teammates will hope to pick up where they left off against second-bottom Crotone on January 3.

The Morocco wide defender gave arguably his most-complete attacking performance in that 2-1 win over Hellas Verona in late December, setting up Lautaro Martinez’s goal and creating three other chances in the Nerazzurri’s seventh league win in a row.

Antonio Conte’s side have closed the gap at the top to just one and they’ll look to continue to heap pressure on local rivals AC Milan, who have drawn two of their last five games in the competition.

Jeremie Boga

Boga had a frustrating final game of 2020, despite Sassuolo beating Sampdoria 3-2 at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The high-flyers from Emilia-Romagna face Atalanta to stay in the top four after the first gameweek since the turn of the year.

Boga hasn’t been involved in any goal for Roberto De Zerbi’s side since scoring and assisting against Hellas Verona on November 22, a run the Ivory Coast attacker will try to end against the team from Bergamo.