The round of 16 at the African Cup of Nations has started, and the biggest game of this stage is undoubtedly the clash between the host Egypt and South Africa. The Pharaohs are the biggest favorites to win the entire competition; therefore, the favorites in this meeting also. As for the Bafana, they advanced here from the death group as the best one of the third-placed teams. Expect a fiery atmosphere at the Cairo International Stadium, and one very interesting match. We are here to provide you with the best possible betting tips.
Match Preview
What can we say about Egypt? This is the strongest team in the ACN no doubt. But pressure often complicates things in those kinds of situations. So far, the Pharaons have been dealing with that perfectly, recording three wins in all three group matches. In general, they have five straight victories when counting friendly international games. The defensive part of Egypt’s assembly is doing its part of the job impeccably. They still haven’t allowed a single goal at the tournament and conceded only one during that five-game winning stretch. Four of those five matches ended with under 2.5 goals, and that is also their characteristic. Low-scoring affairs are common at the African Cup of Nations. The biggest star of the tournament, Mohamed Salah is playing very well for the national team in the last year or so. This allows other players to be very productive as well, and Egypt scored in 11 of the latest 12 contests.
South Africa lost against Morocco with Moubarak Boussoufa netting in the 90th minute. It was a devastating blow for Bafana, but luckily they squeezed in the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams. The game was very dull for watching, with South Africa constantly defending, while on the other side Morocco having the initiative but without any notable opportunities. In general, Bafana was a bit inferior in this match. As a proof for that, we will tell you that Stewart’s boys didn’t have a single shot on goal in this event. Counter-attacks were their weapon, but that tactics didn’t work very well against a strong Moroccan side. That match was the eight one in the latest 10 South Africa played, which ended with under 2.5 goals. Previous five finished with under 1.5 goals as a matter a fact. And all of them saw just one side scoring.
Head to Head
The most recent game these two sides played happened in August 2016. South Africa defeated Egypt in a friendly international match with 1-0. Two events before that were in the African Cup of Nations qualifications, and one ended without goals, while other in South Africa went into hosts’ favor, 1-0.
Prediction
The first and ultimate suggestion will be to focus on low efficiency. This is the first knockout game, and both sides will try to protect their own goal first and then to attack. But that is not the primary reason for our advice. As you already saw, these two nations tend to play low-scoring matches, where spectators see one or two goals in the best situation. We are here going with under 2.5 goals as the safest bet. Odds on that 0.44, which is not bad at all. There is another pick which might be profitable, and that is Egypt to win. The hosts are the best team at this championship, and they will have huge support from the crowd. When these two are put together, we just have to pick them as the winners of this contest. Odds for that are 0.54.
