Ivory Coast vs Egypt Predictions and Betting Tips
Two African champions, Ivory Coast and Egypt go head-to-head in what is expected to be a mouth-watering round of 16 clash in the Africa Cup of Nations. Read on for our expert tips and predictions.
With four wins in this fixture, compared to the Ivorians' three wins, Egypt lead the way on the head-to-head side of things.
Highly-anticipated encounter on the cards
The Ivorians are certainly one of the favourites to win the AFCON for the third time taking into account the calibre of players in their roster as well as their performance in the group stage. The Elephants kicked off the tournament with a solitary goal victory against Equatorial Guinea before they threw away the win under abnormal circumstances in Sierra Leone just a couple of days later. They bounced back in some style against the defending champions, netting three goals via Kessie, Sangare and Pepe with the Algerians' late strike serving as a late consolation. Seven points from a possible nine with seven goals netted would certainly do a world of confidence to them and it is then left to see whether that would be enough to get past the Pharaohs this Wednesday.
Egypt were dealt a major blow on the opening day, losing to the Super Eagles of Nigeria via a solitary goal. They were tested even further against Guinea-Bissau but were saved by a solitary Mo Salah strike on the 69th-minute mark. The seven-time champions did make it two wins in the group with yet another solitary goal victory against Sudan, this time, Mohamed Abdelmoneim netting the all-important winner. Although they did book a spot in the last 16, their performance so far has been sub-par by their standards and given how their opponents' group stage performance they would need to be at their brilliant best for them to stand a chance.
Ivory Coast vs Egypt Team News
Ivory Coast possible starting XI:
Ali Sangare; Aurier, Deli, Bailly, Kanon; Kessie, Seri, Sangare; Zaha, Pepe, Haller
Egypt possible starting XI:
El-Shennawy; Ashraf, Hegazy, Abdelmonem, Kamal; Elneny, Al-Sulaya, El-Said; Salah, Marmoush, Mostafa
Ivory Coast vs Egypt Prediction: 2-1
Egypt showed character to get back to winning ways following their opening day disappointment, however, the Ivorians have been splendid so far and we expect them to overcome the Egyptians by a narrow margin.