Africans to watch this weekend

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s seven goals in 10 games in all competitions puts him in a good place before Sunday’s El Clasico at Real Madrid.

In Serie A, the top three all play on Saturday with Kalidou Koulibaly and Andre Zambo Anguissa looking to put pressure on Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessie in the Scudetto race.

Arsenal’s five-game winning run was halted on Wednesday as Liverpool secured a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

Partey and his colleagues will look to avoid successive losses when they travel to Aston Villa and keep their Top Four aspirations on track.

Mikel Arteta’s team have lost on their last two visits to Villa Park and Gerard's team will back themselves to make it three wins on the trot against the Gunners on their own turf.

There is plenty of African interest in the quarter-finals with several interesting ties in the last eight.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew, Cheick Kouyate and Jeffrey Schlupp look to get the better of Alex Iwobi's Everton, while Mohammed Salisu and Riyad Mahrez face off when Southampton host Manchester City.

In the other two ties, giant-killing Middlesbrough chase a third straight scalp when Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy come to town, while Liverpool’s African contingent hope to avoid defeat at Nottingham Forest and keep their quadruple hopes alive.

Napoli’s 2-1 win over Cagliari last week meant they kept pace with AC Milan at the top of Serie A and they host Udinese on Saturday looking for their ninth win at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Kalidou Koulibaly and Andre Zambo Anguissa are expected to feature for the Partenopei whose home record has been rather hit and miss this term.

Luciano Spalletti’s team are winless in their last two home games, so a return to winning ways will be timely with Milan only three points ahead.

With Napoli potentially moving level with Milan who play later on Saturday, the Rossoneri could face the pressure of needing to beat relegation-threatened Cagliari to keep their Serie A advantage.

Stefano Pioli has started Ismael Bennacer and Frank Kessie in the XI of late and the pair are likely to feature against Walter Mazzarri’s team.

Milan have picked up 13 from a possible 15 on their travels, making them favourites to secure maximum points in Cagliari.

Another decisive Aubameyang showing on Thursday night won Barcelona their tie against Galatasaray, claiming a 2-1 win in Turkey after a goalless encounter last week.

The Gabon superstar will play his first El Clasico this Sunday when Xavi’s team travel to Real Madrid.

Auba has netted seven goals in 10 games since his switch and Cules will hope the striker scores his eighth as the Blaugrana look to end their six-match winless run against their fierce rivals.