Egypt vs Guinea
The African Cup of Nations is just around the corner and the top teams continue their fine tuning, as they aim to start the competition in near perfect shape.
This International Friendly: Egypt vs Guinea will be good preparation for the hosts in the run up to serious business of AFCON, and equally Guinea wants to find its best team before their own campaign begins.
The Pharaoh’s follow up a home fixture with Tanzania on Thursday with this test against Guinea at the Borg El Arab Stadium on Sunday, and by then, head coach Javier Aguirre needs to have his team ready.
Talking Points
Egypt’s Eyes on the Big Prize
Egypt will begin the African Cup of Nations as favourites, and with plenty of backers as hosts, and with, arguably, the best player in the tournament in Liverpool’s Mo Salah. The Premier League’s top scorer over the past two seasons will go into the competition in high spirits having just won the European Champions League with his club, scoring an early opener in the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The host nation hopes to win its first AFCON title since 2010 and starts its campaign against Zimbabwe on June 21th, before games against DR Congo and Uganda on June 26th and June 30th. It’s a group Egypt should get out of and you can keep an eye on the latest SBOBET odds as Africa’s premier competition unfolds.
Egypt boss Javier Aguirre reckons, with the arrival of Salah, that his side is in good shape for the competition. He said: “We are ready for AFCON and the team is complete now with Salah’s arrival, everyone has to acknowledge that the players are fully concentrated especially due to hosting the tournament
“I am only focused on the tournament and I am bound to the Egyptian Football Association with a contract. However, I will definitely leave if I found myself incapable of achieving the targets of Egypt.”
What those targets are remain to be seen, but anything other than a tournament win will put Aguirre’s future under scrutiny.
A lot depends on the fitness and form of Salah, though Olympiacos striker Kouka also carries a threat, he has five international goals in 20 games.
Will Keita be fit?
Guinea head coach Paul Put has been sweating on the fitness of his captain. Salah’s Liverpool team-mate Naby Keita has been named in Guinea’s AFCON squad which may be a worry for Liverpool fans after he limped off in the Champions League semi-final and Jurgen Klopp feared the worst. The dynamic midfielder wasn’t expected to be fit much before the new Premier League season, but he’s recovered much quicker than anticipated. On his arrival with the Guinea team he said: “I am hoping to start work now even though I am not 100 percent fit, but when I was in Liverpool I had already started training with the ball.” Keita is a key player for Guinea, scoring five goals in his 32 appearances, and his powerful running with the ability to break play up and split a defence with a telling ball, makes him an all-round midfield player Guinea can’t really do without.
They face Burundi, Madagascar and Nigeria in Group B of AFCON and could escape the group if Keita stays fit.
Five of Guinea’s eight defenders play in the French leagues, with Ajaccio’s experienced Fode Camara and Toulouse’s Issiaga Sylla picking up 84 caps between them, and Put’s team will be hard to break down.
History
Previous Egypt vs Guinea results have not always gone the way of the Pharaohs, the last being a 1-1 draw in a friendly fixture in 2016. Prior to that Egypt won two world cup qualifiers in 2012 and 2013, by 3-2 and 4-2, and before that there was a 3-3 draw in a friendly back in 2009.
The Pharaoh come into the game on the back of three wins in five (before the Egypt vs Tanzania result) drawing one and losing one. Meanwhile Guinea won one, drew three and lost one over the same period, before losing 1-0 to Benin on Tuesday.
Betting Tip
The latest Egypt vs Guinea betting odds point very clearly to a home win; but it won’t be a walkover and Put will set his team up to frustrate, with a well organised defence ready to thwart the Egypt threat.
Only 11 places separate these two teams in the FIFA World Rankings with the Pharaohs in 57th place and Guinea at joint 68th and in Guinea’s last ten games only one has yielded over 2.5 goals.
So I’m backing a low scoring game in this final AFCON warm-up in which no-one wants to get injured…
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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