Preview : Guinea Bissau vs Nigeria - Africa Cup of Nations - Round 3

Guinea Bissau vs Nigeria

SCHEDULE	TIME
GAME	Guinea Bissau vs Nigeria
DATE	19/01/2022
TIME	14:00 PM (UTC)
VENUE	Stade Omnisport Roumdé Adjia
LEAGUE	Africa Cup of Nations - Round 3

TV Channel Info

More Information

Streaming starts 5 minutes before kick off

Preview

◉ Guinea-Bissau come into this clash on the brink of elimination after a winless start to this year’s African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) tournament (D1, L1). With nine minutes to go, they thought they’d cancelled out Mohamed Salah’s opener in their most recent defeat to Egypt, however, a foul in the build up saw the goal chalked off meaning that Guinea-Bissau have now gone straight six AFCON games without scoring, excluding qualifiers.

◉ No nation has ever gone seven consecutive games in the competition without scoring, therefore there’s unwanted history on the line here for ‘Djurtus’ who are also remarkably still without their first ever AFCON win, despite playing eight previous fixtures in the competition proper (D3, L5). As a result, they’re expectedly big underdogs to secure that maiden victory here, particularly given that they’ve managed only one win across their last eight matches (D4, L3).

◉ Opponents Nigeria have already qualified for the knockout round after a perfect start to the tournament (W2), meaning we might see some key personnel rested for this clash. Yet with six wins from their last eight matches (D1, L1) - four of which came via a 2+ goal margin - it’s expected that the ‘Super Eagles’ will still have too much for the Group D strugglers.

◉ Nigeria finished a respectable third in the previous AFCON edition, beating Tunisia in the third-place decider 1-0. A repeat of that scoreline in this clash would not just see the Nigerians win all three of their group stage AFCON matches for the first time since 2006, but also do so with an identical goal difference to that year too (GF5, GA1).

◉ Players to watch: Guinea-Bissau have gone six straight games since Mama Baldé netted their last goal in a 4-2 September win. Nigeria’s Taiwo Awoniyi has brought his good domestic form into the tournament, netting in the 3-1 win over Sudan which continued a trend that has seen his club and country avoid defeat in each of his previous five goalscoring appearances (W4, D1).

◉ Hot stat: No side has hit more shots on target after the opening two AFCON rounds than Nigeria (13).

Guinea-Bissau starting lineup:

Mendes; Cande, Mane, Sangante, Encada; Cassama, Nogueira; Pele, Piqueti, Ambri, Balde

Nigeria starting lineup:

Okoye; Aina, Troost-Ekong, Ajayi, Sanusi; Nwakali, Onyeka; Chukweze, Iheanacho, Musa; Awoniyi

Prediction

Guinea-Bissau 0-2 Nigeria

Nigeria have been one of the most dominant sides at the tournament and will look to sound their name as genuine title contenders by picking up three wins from their opening three games. While we expect Guinea-Bissau to put up a valiant fight, we anticipate the Super Eagles will come out victorious in this one.