The round of 16 concludes in the Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday when the last two spots in the quarter final will be filled in a tournament which is beginning to come to the boil with just over a week remaining in it.
We’ve seen some big names depart the scene in this round already and on Tuesday we will have the pre-event favourites Morocco looking to make it through to the quarter finals on a competitive looking evening of football.
Mali vs Burkina Faso (17.00)
The first game of the evening sees the Group E winners Mali taking on the team who came second behind Angola in Group D in the form of Burkina Faso in what looks like being one of the closest matches of the round on paper.
Mali have looked very good in this tournament but you do wonder what they have come up against and there is also a question mark over whether they are better than they showed in the draw with Namibia last time out or whether they are slowly decreasing in level in this tournament. I guess you could say the same about Burkina Faso who were beaten by Angola in their last group game, although to be fair that form is standing up fairly well at the minute. Two of the three Burkina Faso goals in this tournament have been through penalties so that would be a concern but Mali haven’t exactly been free scoring either. That makes me wonder if we’ll need extra time and penalties for this one to be decided but neither team are convincing me enough to get involved in this one.
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Morocco vs South Africa (20.00)
The pick of the two matches on Tuesday looks like being the last of the round of 16 matches as the World Cup semi-finalists Morocco go up against a South Africa side who will be looking to cause something of an upset and reach the last eight themselves.
Morocco comfortably won Group F in the first stage of the competition, only dropping points against DR Congo, who have already shown their worth since then. In terms of squad ability and depth, Morocco look very strong and they are going to be hard to beat here but ‘Bafana Bafana’ have improved the longer the competition has gone on and they might have little to lose in this match. You get the impression that South Africa are going to have their work cut out to contain this Morocco attack so they might feel the best way to prevail in this one is to attack and with that in mind we might see a more open contest than we have done in some of the knockout games to date. The goal line for this one is only 2 goals and I would be very surprised if Morocco don’t return a push on their own but a third goal or even a South Africa strike can’t be ruled out so I like the over on that line.
Tips
Back Morocco vs South Africa – Over 2 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.88 with Bet365
