Durosimi Thomas BBC Sport

An Arsenal fan on the banks of the Nile

Millions across Africa will be glued to their television sets tonight as Arsenal take on Manchester United in a key clash for the English FA Premiership title.

For most Africans the focus will be on four players who could play a role in deciding which way the game will go.

Arsenal have three of them - the Cameroonian Lauren Etame Mayer, Kolo Toure from Ivory Coast and Nigeria's Nwankwo Kanu.

Title race reaches climax

Former European champions, United, have the South African midfielder Quinton Fortune on their books.

But Fortune has not played a prominent role in the side for a long time and there has been talk he might be on the way out.

So for tonight's cracker, Fortune could again be out of the picture.

At Arsenal, the main African ace is defender Lauren.

He has scored one goal this season, but has the ability to lend huge support to both the midfield and attack.

Ivorian Toure has played as a substitute in most games, while Kanu is now almost forgotten in the side.

Manchester United are at the top of the table with three points and have played one game more than Arsenal, who have six still to play.