Group A reaches its climax on Tuesday as Ecuador face Senegal in a potential winner takes all battle. Both teams have had some good moments at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and appear evenly matched heading into this one.
Ecuador are coming off a 1-1 draw with Netherlands in their previous Group A fixture. They made a slow start and fell behind early in the contest but struck back just after the restart through Enner Valencia.
Having begun their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Qatar, Ecuador have four points in Group A and only need to avoid defeat on Tuesday to secure a place in the round of 16. Recent results bode well for Gustavo Alfaro’s side as they are unbeaten in their last nine matches across all competitions, although six of those fixtures have ended in draws.
A small problem for Ecuador is that they appear to be overly dependent on Enner Valencia. The striker has scored all their goals in Qatar and the South Americans tend to struggle in attack when he is not at his best.
Senegal are finally off the mark at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as they claimed a 3-1 victory in their previous fixture. They were dominant throughout with Boulaye Dia, Famara Diedhiou and Bamba Dieng getting the goals.
It was a good way to bounce back from their opening defeat to Netherlands and Senegal can progress to the next round with a win on Tuesday. Beyond the result, manager Aliou Cisse will be particularly pleased with his team’s performance, especially their attacking display.
Senegal may have lost to Netherlands in their opening fixture but they have generally been in good form in lately. That was their only defeat in the last six matches across all competitions, although they have failed to keep a clean sheet in the last three.
How the bookies view it
Ecuador have the edge among the bookies and are priced at 7/5 by Unibet to claim the win. A victory for Senegal is valued at 11/5 by bet365 while 10bet is also offering odds of 11/5 for a draw.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Ecuador and Senegal.
Players to watch
Enner Valencia is having a fine tournament in Qatar and has scored three goals in his two appearances so far. The striker will be the one to watch on Tuesday and is priced at 11/5 by bet365 to get on the score sheet.
Famara Diedhiou was one of the liveliest players for Senegal last time out as was handed a start after sitting out the opening fixture. The forward capped a fine performance with a goal and could be backed to get on the score sheet once again at 17/5 with Unibet.
Anything else catch the eye?
Ecuador and Senegal have shown they have the quality to trouble each other’s backline and both teams could be backed to score at 26/25 with Unibet. Over 2.5 goals can also be considered at 7/5 with Unibet while BetVictor is offering 19/5 for over 3.5 goals.
There were more goals after the break in Senegal’s previous future and Tuesday’s clash could be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 5/4 with Paddy Power.
This World Cup match between Ecuador and Senegal will be played on Nov 29, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Ecuador vs Senegal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
