The leadership in the FTBL ranking of African midfielders has unexpectedly reverted to Lille’s young Cameroonian Aurelien Chedjou after the 18th round of the French Ligue 1. Chedjou picked up a whopping 24.58 rating points in our system after scoring the first goal against Le Mans yesterday in league action.

Chedjou had a score of just 27 points as recently as September, before Lille began winning and the Cameroonian improving. His current 111.6 points are the result of an impressive run of 5 straight wins with 18 goals scored and just 8 against.

Lille are traveling to Nancy in the last game of the year, with Chedjou facing a plank of 11.5 rating points to beat. To advance the Cameroonian will need a win. A loss will put him in danger of losing the leadership to Barcelona’s Code d’Ivoire international Yaya Touré. A draw, coupled with a goal, will likewise do the trick for Chedjou, but he scores rarely: the goal against Le Mans was only his second in the past 18 months.