Côte d'Ivoire vs Madagascar Prediction & Betting Tips - AFCON

Prediction published on 10/11/2020, 07:39  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 10/11/2020 at 08:39 in Football Predictions

Ivory Coast play the first of two African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar. They start this latest set of qualifiers in third place in Group K, three points behind their opponents Madagasar. The top two qualify for the finals and the Ivory Coast are only behind second placed Ethiopia on head-to-head results. The fear is though that Ethiopia will get two good results against Niger (no points yet) so the Ivory Coast need to pick up points in their games against the group leaders Madagascar. The Ivory Coast began this group with a 1-0 home win over Niger (thanks to second-half penalty) but then lost 2-1 in Ethiopia, despite taking an early lead. They have qualified for every Africa Cup of Nations finals since missing out in 2004 and were the 2015 champions. Their recent friendlies saw them drawing 1-1 away at the world's top ranked country Belgium and only losing 1-0 in Japan. It is three games without a win though. Their last seven home games have all been won so this won't be easy for Madagascar.

The visitors have maximum points from their two group games. They beat Ethiopia 1-0 at home and then thrashed Niger 6-2 away, that was despite going 1-0 down. Madagascar had never qualified for the finals before their appearance in 2019. They made up for lost time by reaching the quarter finals. Three of their last five games have been won and away qualifying form is impressive. Four of the last six have been won with only two losses in the last 11. Four of their last five away qualifiers in this competition have been won. A double chance bet on them winning or drawing this game looks a good one to make.