In the absence of stand-in captain William Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi will not only inherit the Super Eagles captain armband, but also play alongside Semi Ajayi in the heart of a flat back four, SCORENigeria has specially gathered.
Ndidi, who will be a free agent at the end of this month when his contract at Leicester City runs out, was captain in coach Finidi George first two games, friendlies against Ghana and Mali, in March in Morocco.
He is the most senior international in the Super Eagles in Uyo.
Ndidi started out in central defence with both the Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles.
He also featured in this position for Leicester City the previous season when they played in the Premier League.
The other options to play alongside Ajayi are Calvin Bassey, Chidozie Awaziem and Benjamin Tanimu.
SCORENigeria has now gathered that Bassey will play at leftback, while Fenerbache star Bright Osayi-Samuel will be the rightback.