Mali faces Equatorial Guinea in the African Cup of Nations 1/8 finals. The match will be played on Wednesday, January 26th at Limbe Stadium (Limbe)
Mali reached the ACN 1/8 finals thanks to a victory in the group, but probably only their fans admired the performance of the team. The attacking actions of the Eagles were not impressive, and it was hard for them to create scoring chances, so they often resorted to long-range shots. Of course, such an approach did not allow Mali to become the most productive team in the group stage. The Eagles scored only one open-play goal in 270 minutes, and the other three were scored from the penalty spot. Moreover, two penalties were obtained after a cross and an innocuous shot.
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Equatorial Guinea showed a perfect game in the last ACN matches. Playing in a group with Côte d'Ivoire and Algeria, the National Thunders conceded only one goal. Moreover, they did not flip out even under the onslaught of the current champions of Africa, despite their pressure. Algeria sometimes strongly pressed the Guineans to their box, but they allowed the opponent to deliver only one dangerous shot. However, an offside position was recorded in that moment. Therefore, Equatorial Guinea is capable of parking a quality bus.
I wouldn't be surprised if Equatorial Guinea keeps a clean sheet in the match against Mali. The Eagles did not shine at the group stage and often resorted to stray shots, which were not converted into goals. This is just a sign that they have problems with combinational football. And now the players of Mali will have few chances of breaching a massive defensive line of Equatorial Guinea. However, they themselves are capable of keeping a clean sheet, which they successfully did in nine out of ten last official matches. And Gambia managed to score only from a penalty kick in the 90th minute. The Guineans rarely create scoring chances and waste half of them. Their main hope is set pieces. They scored their two goals after a corner and a free-kick. But Mali players look great in the air, so Equatorial Guinea will have even fewer chances of scoring. I think we will see a struggle but not a bright match, and there is no reason to wait for the goal extravaganza.
Prediction for the match: Under 2.0 goal scored
