It’s the second round of group fixtures at the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon on Thursday, with the host nation targeting qualification from Group A at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Indomitable Lions face minnows Ethiopia, while Burkina Faso are in search of their first points of the tournament against Cape Verde at the Olembe Stadium.
*All kick off times are in SAST.
Group A: Cameroon vs Ethiopia
Knockout qualification is the name of the game for host nation Cameroon when they meet Ethiopia at the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.
A second successive win at the Olembe Stadium will do the trick for the Indomitable Lions, who came from behind to win the opening match of the competition.
Captain Vincent Aboubakar held his nerve to slot home twice from the penalty spot, after the hosts had fallen behind to Burkina Faso midway through the first half in Yaounde.
It was a deserved victory, but they needed the goalkeeping exploits of Andre Onana to make sure, as the stopper restores his football reputation following a doping ban.
Their opponents look to be right up against it after a lightweight performance on the opening night.
Cape Verde outmuscled the East Africans for a win by the only goal in what was something of a procession, after last man Yared Bayeh was sent off for his clumsy 12th-minute challenge just outside the penalty area.
Kick off at 18:00.
Group A: Cape Verde vs Burkina Faso
A place in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations beckons for Cape Verde, if they can make it back-to-back wins in Cameroon on Thursday.
The Islanders battled through a Covid-19 outbreak that took down several players as well as coach Bubista ahead of their opening fixture against Ethiopia.
But an early red card for their East African opponents helped pave the way for a 1-0 win, with Julio Tavares heading home the only goal of the night from close range.
The Burkinabe are on the back foot after their 2-1 loss in the curtain-raiser against hosts Cameroon.
It could have been so different for the Stallions, who hit the front in Yaounde thanks to a fine Gustavo Sangare volley.
But they conceded a pair of penalties in the lead up to half time, with Vincent Aboubakar slotting both to leave Kamou Malo’s men needing points sharpish to stand a chance of progression.
Kick off at 21:00.
Africa Cup of Nations: Group A standings
Team
p
w
d
l
gf
ga
gd
Points
Africa Cup of Nations predictions for 13 January
Prediction methodology explained:?The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team?s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing. Other odds added here are taken from soccerstats247?s algorithm.