Prediction: Egypt vs South Africa

Prediction: Egypt win

Best Odds: 4/7

Bookmaker: bet365

The Africa Cup of Nations is starting to get down to the business end of things, as we gear up for the knockout stages of the tournament. There are still 16 teams remaining that will all believe, to different extents, that they’ve got a chance of becoming the Champions of Africa. Fans of the tournament will be well aware of the fact that it can be incredibly unpredictable, but in the game we’re looking at today between Egypt and South Africa, the general consensus is that it’s going to be fairly one-sided.

Egypt

While they rarely tend to live up to the hype on the world stage, Egypt always know how to turn it on at the Africa Cup of Nations. They’ve got a deep history in this tournament, and now that they’re the hosts, it feels like everything is starting to swing in their favour. They haven’t exactly been able to push themselves to that next level just yet in the tournament, but they’re certainly improving in each and every single game – which is all you can really ask for at this stage.

Team News

Amr Warda will be available for selection after his suspension, with Mohamed Salah continuing to lead from the front.

South Africa

Almost a decade ago now, South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup and really did put on a show. Ever since then they’ve had a few bright moments here and there, but for the most part, their trajectory has been going down instead of up. There’s certainly a passion for the sport within the country and that’ll probably never go away, but there certainly need to be some adjustments made if they want to reach that next level. In this tie against Egypt, they’ll have to hope that they get a few lucky breaks throughout the course of the game.

Team News

Ronwen Williams and Darren Keet will battle it out for a spot in the starting XI, with pundits expecting them to go with a more attack-minded formation.

Factors to Consider

• In their last meeting back in 2016, South Africa beat Egypt 1-0.
• Egypt have won all three of their AFCON games so far.
• South Africa have won one and lost two of their AFCON games so far.
• Egypt have scored five goals and conceded zero in the tournament.
• South Africa have scored one goal and conceded two in the tournament.

Conclusion

South Africa are fortunate to be in this position, and while we think they’re going to improve upon the performances they’ve put forward thus far, we still can’t picture a scenario in which they get the job done against the hosts. Egypt are going to be ruthless in their pursuit of a place in the quarter-finals, and that’s going to be painfully evident from the word go. We’re backing them to win comfortably by a few goals, as they continue to roll towards what many expect to be another title triumph.

Prediction: Egypt win

Best Odds: 4/7

Bookmaker: bet365