The 2021 African Cup of Nations knockout stage continues as Ivory Coast take on Egypt in the fifth Round of 16 game of the tournament.
Ivory Coast will be looking to continue in their good form after coming out winners of Group E without losing a single game with their last game being a comfortable 2-0 win against powerhouse Algeria.
Egypt came out second in their group despite not being convincing so far in the tournament with a couple of scrappy 1-0 wins against Sudan and Guinea Bissau as well as a 1-0 loss to Nigeria who surprisingly crashed out of the tournament after a defeat to Tunisia.
FIFA Third Best player Mohamed Salah will lead his team against a star-studded Ivory Coast side who will be looking for their third African Cup of Nations title.
LIVE ODDS
With the Elephants in top form ahead of the game, they have been tagged as favourites to get the win over 90 minutes at 2.22 on Sportsbet.io. Their rivals, however, are placed on 3.65 to pull up a surprise. The tie is 2.82 to go to extra time.
TEAM NEWS
Patrice Beaumelle is lucky enough to not have any major absentees as he will be with a fully fit and available squad for the tie.
He is likely to start the same XI as against Algeria with Nicolas Pepe and Sebastian Haller starting in front.
The Pharaohs will still be without duo Akram Tawfik and Ahmed Fatouh who both picked up injuries in their opening game of the tournament against Nigeria.
MATCH PREVIEW
The game kicks off at 5:00 pm Nigerian time at the Stade Omnisport de Douala, Cameroon. It promises to be an end to end encounter with both teams set to bring in their attacking guns.
The Elephants will come into the game as favourites but will have it in mind that they’ve secured just one win against the Egyptian team in their last five fixtures.
The Pharaohs have a good head to head against their rivals having amassed 11 wins against their rivals who have 7 to their name. Both teams have played out a draw on just three occasions.
This makes the game a promising one to watch as the form favours Ivory Coast, but the head to head favours Egypt.
BETTING TIPS
The game is likely to yield an unpredictable outcome as with a lot of AFCON 2021 results so far. However, it will be safe to bank on Ivory Coast to not lose over 90 minutes at 1.27 on Sportsbet.io.
Both teams have the attacking capabilities to score at least one goal at 2.28 while the odds is set at 1.55 for Ivory Coast to qualify.
PREDICTION: Ivory Coast 2-1 Egypt
