The second day of action at the Africa Cup of Nations sees the conclusion of the opening round of games in Group A and both the first set of games in Group B being played out in the Ivory Coast across the course of Sunday.
Such is the quality in these two groups that we have three potential champions on show over the course of what looks like being a really good day of football in a tournament which we have already seen the hosts get off to a winning start in.
Nigeria vs Equatorial Guinea (14.00)
The opening match of the day sees the second game in Group A getting played out when the Super Eagles of Nigeria go up against an Equatorial Guinea who will be motivated to prove that they are not just making up the numbers.
Nigeria come to this tournament with a serious amount of firepower at their disposal which includes the Napoli striker Victor Osimhen who is hot property at the minute. For all the firepower that they have though they are without their defensive shield in the form of Wilfried Ndidi so it might mean that you can get at them. That will encourage Equatorial Guinea here who don’t really have a lot to lose. You would imagine their best route through in this group is to offer something against the main two and then beat Guinea-Bissau with a bit to spare. I expect an open match here but I am aware that it is roasting during the day in this part of the world so I’ll keep my powder dry for later in the day.
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Egypt vs Mozambique (17.00)
If there is a mismatch on the second day of the tournament it will be expected to be in the middle game where Egypt get their latest Africa Cup of Nations campaign underway when they take on a Mozambique side who are competing in the event for the first time since 2010.
The initial task for Mozambique will be to win a match at the tournament if they can. They have played in this event four times in the past and haven’t won a match at AFCON so if they can get that monkey off their back that would represent improvement. Whether they can do that against Egypt remains to be seen but clearly if they are going to then they are going to need to keep Mo Salah quiet. If they can do that they will have a chance because he represents a huge percentage of their attacking output. I think it is a task too big for the lower ranked side but I’m no Egypt fan so I’ll leave this one alone.
Ghana vs Cape Verde (20.00)
The final match of a good looking day at AFCON sees the Black Stars of Ghana going up against Cape Verde in what the odds would suggest is the most competitive match of the day and the one which rounds off the opening games in Group B.
I think it is fair to say that Ghana have faded from the days where they reached the quarter final of the World Cup in 2010 but there are signs that they could get back to those times with the likes of Mohammed Kudus looking like a star in the making. I highlighted in my outright preview that I thought Ghana might be being overlooked a little in this tournament and they have the chance to show that. Cape Verde have some players playing in the better European leagues but they come to the tournament having lost four of their last six matches and they haven’t started World Cup qualifying particularly well. There is a good balance of firepower and defensive quality in this Ghana side and I think the 10/11 on them winning this is perfectly fair.
Tips
Back Ghana to beat Cape Verde for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Betway
