Morocco and Tanzania will slug it out for a place in the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
The Moroccans go into this fixture as favourites, and the whole nation will be behind them in their quest for a second continental title.
The Atlas Lions have shown that they are one of the teams to beat in this year’s competition, given their performance in this group stage of the competition.
Having recorded two victories and a draw in their first three matches of the tournament, Walid Regragui’s team have proven their mettle as one of the major contenders for the AFCON title.
With six goals scored across three matches and one conceded, the Moroccans are good value to get past the East Africans.
Tanzania, on the other hand, made it to the knockout stage of the continental showpiece for the first time in close to five decades.
Their road to this stage was not smooth, having failed to win any of their group encounters, but the two draws they recorded were enough to take them through to the last 16.
Nevertheless, this stage will seem like an uncharted territory for the East Africans, given their poor history in the tournament.
A 10-game winless run (D6, L4) is hardly a form that will inspire confidence ahead of one of the most important fixtures in the history of the nation.
Their head-to-head record is not encouraging as well, having lost seven of their last meetings across all competitions.
How the bookies view it: The Atlas Lions are favourites
Morocco have been installed as the favourites to win this fixture among the bookies, with William Hill pricing them at 3/20. A win for Tanzania is valued at 22/1, while a draw is set at 11/2 with the same bookmaker.
Head-to-head: Morocco have dominated this fixture
Morocco have the bragging rights, having won seven of the last encounters between them. That, along with the imperious form of the hosts, leaves them as the favourites to win this contest on Sunday.
Player to watch: Ayoub El Kaabi
Ayoub El Kaabi has found the back of the net in all of Morocco’s three games in this competition.
And considering the form he has shown in this tournament, it is hard to bet against the Olympiakos forward to keep up his goal-scoring form against Tanzania on Sunday.
With that in mind, the option of El Kaabi to score at anytime is an appealing one, and it is available on Bet365 at 4/5.
Probable line-ups
As far as injuries are concerned, there is not much in terms of players who will be ruled out of this encounter on account of injuries.
For Morocco, Romain Saiss suffered from muscle discomfort after some minutes in their first game of the competition, and he has not featured since then. Hence, he is unlikely to be involved on Sunday.
On the contrary, Tanzania has a clean bill of health, and Hemede Suleiman will have the luxury of picking his preferred starting XI for this encounter.
Morocco: Bono; Salah-Eddine, El Yamiq, Aguerd, Mazraoui, Ounahi, Amrabat, El Aynaoui, Saibari, El Kaabi, Diaz
Tanzania: Masalanga, Hussein, Hamad, Nwamnyeto, Job, Miroshi, Msanga; Msuva, Salum, Mnoga, Samatta
Anything else that catches the eye?
Four of Tanzania’s last four encounters recorded goals from both sides, and that could be an option for a good return from this fixture. The both teams to score outcome is priced at 2/1 on Bet365.
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