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Ivory Coast are pushing to win this tournament, but they have a tricky last 16 meeting with Mali ahead if they can win this clash. We expect the Elephants to gain some revenge for their loss to Namibia, while they’ve been made heavy favourites to win their final group game. Their array of stars has to easily guide them through this match, while they should only get better moving forward in this tournament.
Ivory Coast went into this group with a brilliant forward line, but there were questions about their defensive ability. Having won 1-0 and lost 1-0 in their two games so far, their defence hasn’t seemed to be the problem. They aren’t quite clicking up front, but one of Nicolas Pepe, Wilfried Zaha, Max Gradel and Jean Michael Seri should be able to pick apart Namibia. After all, the minnows are in poor form at the back of late.
Namibia have conceded 20 goals in their eight matches at the Africa Cup of Nations. They’ve lost six of their eight matches at this competition, while they’ve scored only once in their last four AFCON outings. Meanwhile, Ivory Coast qualified with three clean sheets in their last four qualifying matches, while so far they’ve been a solid side at the back. Given Namibia’s inability to score, we see Ivory Coast breaking through and claiming a win to nil. We’re going with Ivory Coast to win and keep a clean sheet.
After losing their last game, Ivory Coast have work to do in their meeting with Namibia. They are aiming to pick up a win in Cairo on Monday, which would help them into the next round. Despite their defeat, the Elephants remain in the top two and they’ll stay there with a victory in this clash. However, they need to come back from a recent defeat against this week’s opponents. Namibia won 1-0 when these two met just last year, but can they repeat that on the big stage?
So far, Namibia have struggled to make that kind of impact in Egypt. They come into this clash bottom of the pile, while they’re set to drop out of the competition this week. It hasn’t been the greatest tournament for the outsiders, who lost their only realistically winnable game when they lost out to South Africa on Friday. Now they are up against one of the strongest sides in Africa as they wrap up their campaign in the Africa Cup of Nations.