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Algeria plan counter-attacks against Eagles

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eagles-trainingNew Algeria coach Georges Leekens is looking to pick  up maximum points against  Nigeria   in  their Russia  2018 World Cup Group B qualifier in Uyo on November 12 by  hitting the Super Eagles on  the counter-attack with quick, direct forward passes.

The 67-year-old Belgian, who replaced Serbian  Milovan Rajevac  as the Desert Foxes manager on Friday,  is hoping to hit the ground running from the first game.

Leekens, who  was sent packing recently by Belgian side Lokeren after losing eight out of 12 games  this season,  has reportedly settled for a  4-2-3-1 formation  for the Uyo encounter.

The former Tunisia manager, who previously managed the Desert Foxes  in 2003,  is said to have opted for the formation, which  has helped top managers such as Alex Ferguson, Jurgen Klopp, Manuel Pellegrini and  Jose Mourinho achieve success.

Leekens is apparently  out to stop Nigeria’s young forwards Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi from replicating the stunning form they showed in the Eagles’ 2-1  defeat of Zambia in their opening  2018 World Cup qualifier in Ndola on October 9. Manchester City’s Iheanacho and  Arsenal’s Iwobi scored both goals in the Ndola victory. Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr on Saturday  named both players in his 24-man squad for the Uyo encounter.

According to the highly influential  Algerian outlet Le Buteur, Leekens has decided to  approach the  Nigeria clash  with the system because he  believes the  Desert Foxes  squandered their early lead to be held  to  a 1-1 draw  at home by Cameroon in their opening  Russia  2018 qualifier because the defence lacked support.

The former Belgium coach has moved to fix the defence ahead of the game against Nigeria to enable the team to earn  full points, despite  the attacking riches at  Rohr’s disposal.

With the a 4-2-3-1  formation,  Leekens  is planning to  play two players in   front  of  his back four,  with one of them  breaking up any Nigerian attacks through  Iheanacho and  Iwobi, while the other send quick passes to  Leicester City’s attacking duo Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani.

“The pressure does not scare me at all and I am motivated to succeed with the Greens. I can also say that I have a debt to the Algerian team,” Le Buteur quoted Leekens as saying on Sunday.

The outlet adds that the coach will play the tape of the match between Nigeria and Zambia from Wednesday to Friday “to get an idea about them (Eagles)”.

He said, “This operation will begin on Wednesday and will last until Thursday evening or Friday since Leekens wants to prepare for the meeting of Nigeria, who will be his first opponents in his return to the Greens.”

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