Morocco’s search for their first Africa Cup of Nations title since 1976 continues as they face Malawi in a round of 16 clash.
Boasting a talented squad, Morocco came into the Africa Cup of Nations as one of the favourites to reach the latter stages of the competition. They looked the part in the first round, finishing as Group B winners after going unbeaten in their three matches.
Following wins in their opening two matches, Morocco were then held to a 2-2 draw by Gabon in their final Group fixture with Sofiane Boufal and Achraf Hakimi getting the goals. Vahid Halilhodzic’s men have been one of the most in-form teams in Africa with their only loss in the last 32 matches a defeat to Algeria on penalties at the Arab Cup.
While Morocco boast plenty of attacking quality with the likes of Sofiane Boufal and Youssef En-Nesyri, their backline has also impressed in Cameroon. They kept two clean sheets in their three group stage matches.
Malawi looked to have a slim chance of progressing from Group B after losing their opening fixture in the competition. However, they bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe in their second group outing.
A 0-0 draw with Senegal in their last fixture was enough to earn them a place in the knockout phase as one of the best third placed teams. Manager Mario Marinica will look to take some confidence from that result against the West Africans as they target a quarter-final berth.
Malawi have been poor in attack and failed to score in two of their three group stage matches. They will need to get their strikers firing in order to get past a Moroccan backline that has conceded just four goals in their last 10 matches across all competitions.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have Morocco as overwhelming favourites at 1/3 with Quinnbet while an unlikely victory for Malawi is priced at 12/1 by Unibet. A draw is set at odds of 17/4 by MansionBet.
Head to head
Morocco have never lost to Malawi, claiming four wins and two draws from six previous matches. Both teams battled to a 0-0 draw during the group stage of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Players to watch
Sofiane Boufal was one of the stars for Morocco during the group stage having scored two goals in three matches. The attacker could be worth keeping an eye on to score anytime at 12/5 with betway.
Morocco have also shown their quality at the other end of the pitch with Nayef Aguerd and Romain Saiss impressing in defence. Both men can ensure the North Africans keep their third clean sheet in Cameroon at 1/2 with Betfred.
Anything else catch the eye?
Morocco have won to nil in two of their three matches in Cameroon and could be set for a repeat at 31/40 with BetVictor. The North Africans are expected to claim a comfortable victory and could be tipped in the -1 handicap market at 23/20 with SpreadEX.
Given their solid defence and Malawi’s problems in attack, Morocco could also be backed as the only team to score at 8/11 with bet365.
This African Nations Cup match between Morocco and Malawi will be played on Jan 25, 2022 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Morocco vs Malawi prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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