Equatorial Guinea vs Côte d'Ivoire Prediction & Betting Tips - AFCON

Prediction published on 09/01/2022, 10:19  by Joseph King | Modified on 09/01/2022 at 16:20 in AFCON Predictions

Round 1 of the Africa Cup of Nations concludes on Wednesday with this group E clash between the Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea. Ivory Coast come into this competition tied with hosts Cameroon on most books as the third favorite to lift the trophy, behind favorites Senegal and defending champions Algeria. They boast an immensely talented squad brimming with established talent plying their trade across the top league in Europe. One look at their starting 11 and it’s easy to understand why they are among the favorites. The challenger is an Equatorial Guinea side that finished fourth in this competition in 2015, but failed to qualify for the last two iterations of the tournament. They’ll be up against it here, as the books don’t have a lot of faith in the tiny, resource-rich nation - Equatorial Guinea are currently priced at 200-1 to win the competition, tied for the second highest available odds. 

Both sides come into this match having not played in almost two months. With Ivory Coast coming off a 1-0 loss to Cameroon in World Cup qualifiers in November and Equatorial Guinea coming off a 1-1 draw to lowly Mauritius. It’s difficult to envision anything other than an Ivory Coast win, and it very well could be a comfortable multi goal win given the attacking talent in this side. The Elephants can call on the likes of Pepe, Maxwell Cornet, Wilf Zaha and Max Gradel to flank Ajax and former West Ham hitman Sebastian Haller, who has been absolutely lethal this season - scoring 22 goals in 24 appearances. There is a distinct lack of recognizable names in the Equatorial Guinea side, the most known perhaps Emilio Nsue who spent a few years in the English game with Middlesbrough and Birmingham. Ivory Coast last won the competition in 2015, the year that their opponents finished fourth, and the cocoa-rich west African nation is likely to get off to a strong start in what is ultimately a tough group.