Algeria vs Nigeria: Why Ademola Lookman is Chelle's ‘not-so’ secret weapon in AFCON 2025 clash

When Algeria's coaching staff gather to dissect Nigeria's AFCON 2025 campaign, the instinct would be obvious: neutralise Victor Osimhen, and you neutralise the Super Eagles. 

It's a logical strategy that's worked for opponents before. There's just one problem, they'd be focused on the wrong man entirely.

The player who should keep Algeria's analysts up at night isn't wearing the No. 9. It's Ademola Lookman, and the Atalanta star has quietly become the most dangerous attacking force at the entire tournament. 

Here's why Saturday's quarterfinal in Marrakech will be won or lost based on whether Algeria can contain Nigeria's real match-winner.

Forget what you think you know about this Super Eagles team. Yes, Osimhen is the name on everyone's lips, Nigeria’s number one man, the striker with the reputation and the highlight-reel finishes. 

But football is about more than who puts the ball in the net, it's about who creates the opportunities in the first place, and the unsung heroes.

Lookman has created 12 chances at AFCON 2025, more than any other player in Morocco. 

Read that again. In a tournament filled with world-class playmakers, nobody not Morocco's Brahim Diaz, not Ivory Coast's Franck Kessié, not even Algeria's own Riyad Mahrez, has unlocked defences like the 28-year-old Nigerian.

The creativity doesn't stop there:

• 7 goal involvements (tournament-leading)

• 4 assists (most in the competition)

• 3 goals of his own

• 3 big chances created

• 1.8 expected assists per game (best in AFCON 2025)

• Highest player rating in the entire tournament

These aren't just impressive statistics, they're a blueprint of how Nigeria has dominated opponents. 

While Osimhen finishes chances, Lookman is the architect designing them. And against Algeria's well-drilled defence, that difference matters enormously.

1. The role that makes him impossible to mark

Super Eagles boss Eric Chelle has deployed Lookman in a fluid No. 10 role behind Osimhen and Akor Adams, and it's tactical genius. 

The position gives him license to roam, drift left to link with Alex Iwobi, drop deep to collect possession, or ghost into those deadly pockets of space between midfield and defence.

Algeria can assign a man-marker or two to Osimhen, most teams do. But how do you mark a player who operates everywhere and nowhere at once? 

Lookman's movement is constant, intelligent, and devastatingly effective. One moment he's wide left, skinning a fullback. The next, he's central, threading a pass to Osimhen, who ghosts behind centre backs.

2. He's already proven himself in the big moments

Talk is cheap at major tournaments. What matters is production when the lights are brightest, and Lookman has delivered repeatedly:

• Two Man of the Match awards (Tunisia in the group stage, Mozambique in the Round of 16)

• Joint-third on Nigeria's all-time AFCON scoring list with 6 goals, joining Super Eagles legends

• Leading the MVP race despite playing a deeper, more creative role

This isn't a player riding a hot streak or benefiting from weak opposition. Lookman dismantled Tunisia's organised defence. 

He carved Mozambique apart with precision passing and clinical finishing. He's doing it against serious teams, in high-pressure situations, on the biggest stage African football offers.

Algeria's defence is good, very good, in fact, three clean sheets in four matches, but they haven't faced anyone operating at Lookman's current level.

3. The mentality that makes champions

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of Lookman right now isn't the skill, it's the mindset. Despite leading the MVP race and sitting just one goal behind Golden Boot leader Brahim Diaz, he's publicly stated that individual awards mean nothing without the trophy.

When Chelle rested him against Uganda in the final group game, Lookman didn't sulk or complain about missing out on stat-padding. 

He understood the bigger picture: staying fresh for the knockout rounds serves Nigeria's championship ambitions better than personal milestones.

That's the mentality of a player on a mission. He's not playing for highlights or social media praise, he's playing to end Nigeria's 13-year AFCON drought. 

Players with that combination of world-class talent and team-first focus tend to deliver in the moments that matter most.

Here's the beautiful irony for Nigeria: Algeria will probably over-commit resources to stopping Osimhen anyway. It's human nature. 

The Galatasaray striker's reputation, his physical presence, his goal-scoring record, everything he represents screams "danger" to opposing coaches.

And while Algeria's centre backs are preoccupied with Nigeria's No. 9, while their defensive midfielders are tracking his runs, their game plan revolves around limiting his touches, Lookman will be finding space, creating chances, and pulling strings they didn't even know existed.

Osimhen is the distraction. Lookman is the real threat.

When the final whistle blows at Stade de Marrakech, the conversation might centre on whoever scores Nigeria's goals. 

But make no mistake, if the Super Eagles advance to the semifinals, it will be because Ademola Lookman orchestrated it.

Algeria knows he's dangerous. The statistics confirm he's the tournament's most creative force. The question isn't whether they should stop him, it's whether they actually can.

Eric Chelle's master stroke has been building a system that maximises Lookman's genius while defences obsess over Osimhen. 

It has worked perfectly through four matches, producing 12 goals and Nigeria's most convincing AFCON performances in years.

Algeria has 90 minutes to solve a puzzle nobody else has cracked. Their entire tournament and Nigeria's dream of ending 13 years of continental heartbreak hinge on one simple truth:

Stop Lookman, and you have a chance. Let him create, and you're going home.

The secret is out. The one player Algeria must stop isn't wearing No. 9. He's the magician in the No. 10, and he's been the best player at AFCON 2025. Saturday will reveal whether knowing that is enough.