It is a battle of two former champions as Ivory Coast face Egypt in an Africa Cup of Nations round of 16 fixture on Wednesday. Given the attacking quality expected to be on display, goals are predicted in this heavyweight clash.
Ivory Coast have been one of the more impressive teams at the Africa Cup of Nations and are unbeaten in the competition. They finished top of Group E after claiming two wins and a draw in their opening three matches.
Patrice Beaumelle’s team saved their best performance for their final Group fixture as they claimed a 3-1 victory over defending champions Algeria. They raced to a three-goal lead through Franck Kessie, Ibrahim Sangare and Nicolas Pepe before the North Africans struck a late consolation.
Ivory Coast have shown their attacking quality in Cameroon, scoring six goals in their three group matches.
Egypt have not been convincing in Cameroon but showed great character to bounce back from defeat to Nigeria in their opening fixture. They have won their last two matches and finished second behind the West Africans to reach the round of 16.
The seven-time champions earned a 1-0 victory over Sudan in their final Group D fixture. They laboured for much of the game, missing several chances as Mohamed Abdelmonem’s first half effort proved to be the difference.
While the Egyptians have kept clean sheets in their last two matches, their defence has not been overly watertight. As seen in the defeat to Nigeria, they have a defensive vulnerability which could be punished by the potent Ivorian attack.
How the bookies view it
Ivory Coast have the edge among the bookies and are priced at 25/19 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Egypt is valued at 3/1 by Unibet while Quinnbet is offering odds of 21/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Egypt have a 4-3 edge with one draw from eight previous matches against Ivory Coast. The last meeting between both teams was a friendly in 2013 which the Ivorians won 4-2.
Players to watch
Nicolas Pepe missed the opening fixture for Ivory Coast but has impressed since returning to the team in the second match. The Arsenal forward has found the net in his last two appearances and is priced at 3/1 by betway to get on the score sheet on Wednesday.
Mohamed Salah remains the biggest attacking threat for Egypt and will be the one to watch on Wednesday. The Liverpool forward has one goal in the competition and is priced at 9/4 by betway to add to that tally.
Anything else catch the eye?
Ivory Coast and Egypt have had problems at the back and given the quality in each attack, both teams could be backed to score at 7/10 with BoyleSports. The Ivorians saw over 3.5 goals in their last fixture and a repeat is priced at 11/2 by BetVictor while Unibet is offering 15/8 on over 2.5 goals.
Ivory Coast have opened the scoring in their three matches in Cameroon and could be tipped to grab the first goal on Wednesday at 20/21 with MansionBet.
This African Nations Cup match between Ivory Coast and Egypt will be played on Jan 26, 2022 and kick off at 16:00. Check below for our tipsters best Ivory Coast vs Egypt prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.