AFCON 2015, Group D | Saturday 24 January | Malabo | 21:00
In the second Group D clash on Saturday, it’s the hosts’ neighbours, Cameroon, that take on the even further west, Guinea. Despite friendlies, these teams have only met once in AFCON competition, back in 1998, and Guinea will draw on that spirited 2-2 draw, ahead of this difficult clash.
To Win (90mins)
Cameroon 16/10
Draw 2/1
Guinea 7/4
CAMEROON
Cameroon failed to take advantage of Ivory Coast’s slip up, managing only a draw against Mali in their AFCON opener. It was Ambroise Oyongo’s late equalizer denied Mali all three points.
Cameroon made it through to the quarter-finals back in 2010, but have not been involved in AFCON competition since being knocked out by Egypt in injury time. They are four-time African champions, and are not called the Indomitable Lions for nothing.
Coach, Volker Finke, boasts an unbeaten record since exiting World Cup 2014 in highly disappointing fashion. After not registering a single win on the world stage, it seems they have turned things around, picking up important away draws and being their dominant selves at home in qualification.
Needless to say they cruised through, and with a new look side that boasts just eight players that took part in the World Cup, they’re very much in need of proving a point.
Minus their talisman, Samuel Eto’o, too, who recently retired from international football.
GUINEA
Guinea were handed the worst possible opening fixture coming up against African giants Ivory Coast.
However, they showed no respect and stunned the Elephant with a 36th-minute volley from Mohamed Yattara.
However, Ivory Coast managed an equalizer after going down to 10 men, but Guinea will he happy with a point after giving a good account of themselves.
Guinea are one of the lesser known entities, qualifying second behind Ghana in their group even after not being allowed to play home games because of the Ebola outbreak.
Despite their wins against weaker sides like Uganda and Togo, an impressive home draw against the Black Stars was the highlight of their road to AFCON 2015. A worrying 5-2 loss in a warm up match against Senegal will have coach Michel Dussuyer hoping his preparations have been enough to let them compete.
To make the task even more daunting, they’ve yet to beat Cameroon in recent times, with their recent friendlies resulting in two wins and a draw for the Lions.
Betting Verdict: CAMEROON 16/10
The Lions of west Africa have every reason to walk into this one as favourites. AFCON usually deals up a few upsets, especially in the group stages, but I can’t see this match being one of those possible candidates. Strong recent form, solid qualification and stiffer opposition in Group D like Mali and Ivory Coast, mean Cameroon will be fully focused on ensuring the win in this one. Over and above the win, look to the favourite to keep a clean sheet. They will be using this as good defensive practice for much sterner opposition to come.
Written by The Caretaker Coach for @Hollywoodbets. Follow them both on Twitter and Facebook now!
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