Senegal are already through to the Africa Cup of Nations final and on Thursday evening we will find out whether the host nation Cameroon will join them or whether Mo Salah and his Egypt team make it through when the two meet in the second semi-final.
These two have shown signs of quality in the tournament but they have flattered to deceive at other times as well but both will know the ability of the other and that should ensure we see both teams at their best here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on both the Sky Sports Premier League and BBC Three channels. Kick off out in Cameroon is at 7pm UK time.
Cameroon
The host nation have largely cruised through to this stage of the competition. There have been matches where they have looked slack and sloppy but when they have been on it they have looked a really decent side. The only time they haven’t won inside 90 minutes was in their final group match against Cape Verde but they already had the group won by that point so how much we can take from that is unknown. In the knockout stages they laboured against Comoros but we much better against Gambia in the quarter finals.
One area of concern for the home side is that in just one match of the five they have played have they kept a clean sheet. They have conceded to both Ethiopia and 10-man Comoros and they might need to make sure they tighten up at the back here because you could see it being more of a struggle to regularly break down this Egypt side. The one thing the Cameroon side do have is plenty of pace and power going forward which is never a bad thing.
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Egypt
I think it is fair to say that Egypt have made it through to this semi-final the hard way. They were in one of the harder groups with Nigeria and while they laboured their way out of it, things haven’t got much easier since then. Ivory Coast was a dog of a draw in the last 16 but having survived a penalty shootout to come through that they then took care of rivals Morocco in another brutal draw in the quarter final. They needed extra time in that one too so Egypt certainly have plenty of football in their legs.
The positive for Egypt in the tournament to date is that other than having overcome a number of tough challenges, they have only conceded two goals in the event. The negative is that goals haven’t come as freely as they would like. In five matches, two of which have had extra time in them, they have registered just four goals which when you consider they have Mo Salah in their ranks is something of a surprise, but also an indication are how their primary aim has been to remain tight at the back.
Betting
This is a really intriguing match. We have the free scoring Cameroon side who have shown vulnerabilities defensively against a pretty tight at the back Egypt team who have flattered to deceive in front of goal. I’m of the opinion that it is easier for a poor attacking side to score against a weaker defence than a good attacking team to break down a very deep and organised back line but that is especially the case when the poor attacking side contains Mo Salah who simply has to put his mark on this tournament at some point.
Cameroon are also playing with a bit of extra pressure from the stands to not just win but also to perform well. They haven’t really faced anything in the tournament yet so we will find out an awful lot more about them in this contest. Egypt have seen off good sides in Ivory Coast and Morocco and while they didn’t look as secure against them as they did weaker foes, they got the job done and they do look to be getting better the longer the tournament goes on. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this needs extra time and penalties to settle it but with Salah around Egypt always have that live danger and if their defence can continue to perform we might soon see that the draw has flattered Cameroon. I like Egypt on the Asian lines here.
Tips
HALF WON – Back Egypt (+0.25AH) to beat Cameroon for a 3/10 stake at 1.98 with Bet365
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