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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
IN-FORM Zimbabwe midfielder Marvelous Nakamba is today set for an interesting duel with Liverpool’s Senegalese forward, Sadio Mane, in an English Premiership football match that provides a dress rehearsal for the players’ upcoming AFCON clash.
The encounter comes when Nakamba is enjoying newly-found form under new manager Steven Gerrard. The Zimbabwean has been the mainstay of the Aston Villa midfield in their last few games.
Today’s match, which kicks-off at 5pm, is also important for the new Villa manager Gerrard, who makes an emotional return to Anfield for the first time to face the club that gave him fame in a career that spanned 17 seasons and won nine trophies.
Gerrard, who is tipped to become the future Liverpool manager, honed his senior coaching career at Rangers in Scotland before joining Villa last month.
The Liverpool legend found Villa in trouble after the club had lost five straight games under the previous manager Dean Smith. One of the tricks he pulled from his bag was to bring on Nakamba, who previously had been starved of game-time under Smith’s regime.
The Zimbabwean has repaid the faith shown by the Liverpool legend by putting up some top-notch performances.
Villa have since risen to mid-table after winning three of their four games under Gerrard, with Nakamba getting the plaudits in all the four games.
And Gerrard now feels he (Nakamba) is indispensable and would want to have him through the Christmas and New Year fixtures.
His wish was granted by ZIFA who agreed that the midfielder extend his stay in England by 10 days and feature in three extra league games for the Birmingham side.
ZIFA had wanted him back home when the Warriors begin camp around December 23, ahead of the team’s scheduled departure for Cameroon one week later.
Gerrard will again be looking up to the Zimbabwean midfielder’s abilities to provide the anchor to the Villa defence when he comes up against his former team Liverpool this afternoon.
“He’s been fantastic, he’s trained extremely well,” Gerrard revealed in a recent interview with the Birmingham Mail.
“We were aware of Marvelous before we came in, but he’s somebody who has really stood up and jumped out, he’s basically said in the past two weeks, ‘I’m here, I want to contribute, I want to be available’.
“He’s still young, he can get better. He’s around the right people for that to happen, he’s in the right environment for that. We’re really pleased to have him,” said Gerrard.
Odds, though, favour Mane’s Liverpool who are currently in second place in the English Premiership championship race with 35 points, one behind leaders Manchester City.
Villa, in contrast, are a distant 10th and have 19 points in the bag, with both teams having played 15 games apiece.
Mane is one of the brightest prospects in the Liverpool squad where he has contributed seven league goals and an assist in 15 appearances this season.
Another Liverpool player of African origin set to line up against Zimbabwe at AFCON 2021 is Naby Keita. However, the Guinea midfielder has dropped out of favour, mainly due to injury worries.
Nakamba and Mane have played against each other a couple of times. But as of next month, the rivalry will turn out to be country versus country at the AFCON tournament.
Zimbabwe and Senegal will clash in the opening match of Group B at Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam on January 10.
The Warriors will play Malawi four days later at the same venue before relocating to Yaoundé to face Keita’s Guinea in their last group game.
Zimbabwe and Senegal are not new rivals at the tournament. The teams faced off in the 2017 edition in Gabon. Both Nakamba and Mane featured in that game.
The West Africans prevailed 2-0 with Mane opening the scoring after nine minutes before Henri Saivet sealed victory for the Lions of Teranga, four minutes later. Zimbabwe finished bottom of the group, which also included Algeria and Tunisia.
The Warriors, who mark their fifth appearance at the tournament in Cameroon next month, will be looking to go beyond the group stages for the first time in history.
On the other hand, Senegal, who were the 2019 losing finalists, will be aiming to better that record in their 16th AFCON appearance.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter