African players to watch this weekend

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heads into Arsenal’s clash with Watford aiming to continue an impressive record at the Emirates Stadium, while Riyad Mahrez and Eric Bailly clash in the Manchester Derby in the pick of this weekend’s Premier League games.

In Italy, the Derby della Madonnina pits Inter Milan against AC Milan, with Franck Kessie & Ismael Bennacer looking to edge further ahead of Simone Inzaghi’s team in Serie A.

The Manchester Derby

It would be swift to get excited over Manchester United’s recent results — victory over a beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur and a late equaliser at Atalanta — but Eric Baily looks to be back in favour at Old Trafford with Raphael Varane out for a few weeks and Victor Lindelof missing out on Tuesday night.

The Ivory Coast defender is likely to feature against Manchester City if the Swede is deemed unfit to return to action as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to continue an impressive record against Pep Guardiola.

It remains to be seen if Riyad Mahrez starts, with the City boss seemingly giving the Algeria wideman more opportunities in the Champions League.

Failure to win will increase United’s winless home run to four, while defeat could see them fall six points behind their rivals and 10 adrift of Chelsea atop the Premier League standings.

Arsenal vs Watford

One of Sunday’s games sees Mikel Arteta’s team host a Jekyll and Hyde Watford side looking to continue their recent upswing.

While Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may not be among the goals so far on their travels, the Arsenal captain has netted in his last four PL games at the Emirates Stadium and a six-goal return in five games against the Hornets bodes well for the visit of Claudio Ranieri’s team.

Thomas Partey ought to start in the middle of the park, while Nicolas Pepe could get minutes against the Hertfordshire outfit who desire another scalp after stunning Everton 5-2 in their previous away game.

Ismaila Sarr didn’t play a huge part in that surprising victory at Goodison Park, but the Senegal wide attacker remains the biggest threat for the unfancied Watford in North London.

West Ham United vs Liverpool

Liverpool’s African contingent face a potential banana peel at the London Stadium against a West Ham United side looking to challenge for a Champions League spot.

Mohamed Salah still leads the scoring charts, but last week’s blank against Brighton & Hove Albion ended a run of seven successive league games where he found the back of the net.

The Egyptian enjoys a game against the Hammers — having netted nine times in eight games against the London side — and he’ll back himself to hit double figures against them this weekend.

Sadio Mane, Joel Matip and West Ham's Said Benrahma could all feature in East London.

The Milan Derby

AC Milan’s Champions League return may be going awry, but an impressive unbeaten Serie A start sees the Rossoneri joint-top along with Napoli.

Stefano Pioli’s troops face Inter Milan in the first Derby della Madonnina of the season looking for a positive result against Simone Inzaghi’s outfit.

With Franck Kessie — last week’s match-winner at Roma — only coming off the bench against Porto on Wednesday, you sense the Ivory Coast midfielder will start in the derby.

His partner could be Ismael Bennacer, whose ball-carrying, passing ability and dynamism could be useful on Sunday night.

A win for Milan potentially sees them end the gameweek top in Serie A if Napoli fail to match their result against Hellas Verona.

Achraf Hakimi

Another indifferent Paris Saint-Germain performance in a 2-2 Champions League draw at RB Leipzig heaps more pressure on the disjointed Parisians.

Hakimi, back from a one-match Ligue 1 suspension, has mostly typified the struggles under Mauricio Pochettino, who understandably looks to be having a hard time finding a coherent structure for the array of talent in this PSG side.

They travel to a Bordeaux outfit fresh from a roaring turnaround against Stade de Reims last week (they won 3-2 having been 2-0 down) looking to produce a performance to match the team’s undoubted ability.

A win will end the ongoing two-game run without maximum points on their travels in Ligue 1.