Tunisia vs Mauritania Prediction & Betting Tips - AFCON

Prediction published on 13/01/2022, 08:27  by Joseph King | Modified on 13/01/2022 at 14:27 in AFCON Predictions

The second matchday of the Africa Cup of Nations group F sees Tunisia and Mauritania face off in a must win match for both sides. Each dropped their opening match 1-0 to their respective opponents with Tunisia losing to Mali while Mauritania were defeated by Gambia. Tunisia will likely come into this match with a deserved chip on their shoulder. Their last match saw bizarre scenes when the referee inexplicably blew the full time whistle in the 85th minute, then again in the 89th minute - denying the Tunisians a good seven to eight minutes of stoppage time. To add further drama to what was an eventful match, Tunisia star-man Whabi Khazri flubbed a chance to tie the match at 1-1 after he missed his spot kick in the 77th minute. Mauritania weren’t expected to make too many waves at this tournament but for Tunisia, failure to qualify from the group stage would be seen as a huge failure for the team that finished fourth in the last edition of the AFCON.

These two sides have played each other relatively recently. Having met twice in the span of three days in October for World Cup qualifying. Tunisia recorded a comfortable 3-0 win at home but Mauritania were able to snatch a point in the following match, drawing 0-0 at home. Tunisia are installed as clear favorites here and should record a win given they’re the much more talented squad. The latest FIFA rankings have Tunisia at #30 while Mauritania sit at #103, further highlighting the gap in quality between the two sides. Mauritania haven’t recorded a win in their last eight matches, with their last triumph coming in March of 2021, and that streak is unlikely to come to an end in this one.