Argentina team news: Aguero dropped for Higuain as Messi seeks World Cup salvation

Dom Farrell

Argentina team news: Aguero dropped for Higuain as Messi seeks World Cup salvation image

Argentina have rung the changes with their World Cup place on the line as Gonzalo Higuain replaces Sergio Aguero in attack to face Nigeria in St Petersburg.

Lionel Messi and his team-mates must beat the Super Eagles at Krestovsky Stadium to stand any chance of progressing to the knockout stages after they followed an opening 1-1 draw against Iceland with a shambolic 3-0 loss to Croatia.

As expected, under-fire boss Jorge Sampaoli has made five changes to the starting XI dispatched by Croatia, with Aguero missing out despite scoring his country's only goal at Russia 2018 so far.

Angel Di Maria is restored to complete a three-man attack alongside Messi and Higuain in a 4-3-3 formation – Sampaoli's third different tactical setup in as many matches.

Franco Armani makes his international debut in goal, with Willy Caballero paying for the error that saw Ante Rebic open the scoring for Croatia last week.

Nigeria were in far more impressive form as they overcame Iceland 2-0 and currently lie second in Group D, two points better off than Sampaoli's men.

Gernot Rohr has named an unchanged XI, with John Obi Mikel to play in a cast to protect his broken hand.

Argentina team: Armani, Mercado, Rojo, Otamendi, Tagliafico, Mascherano, Banega, Perez, Di Maria, Messi, Higuain.

Nigeria team: Uzoho, Idowu, Ndidi, Ekong, Balogun, Musa, Etebo, Mikel, Moses, Iheanacho, Omeruo

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.