ACN: Cameroon vs. Egypt Preview, Odds, Prediction

African Cup of Nations‘ second semifinals will see the hosts Cameroon and the biggest favorites for the title, Egypt facing one another. According to many, this is the derby of the entire tournament and the most interesting matchup so far. Cameroon is playing offensive and attractive football, while Egypt relies upon counter-attacks and transition. Overall their matches are very, very boring and inefficient. We expect to see one very tough battle in the midfield, and whoever imposes its paces in this area will be the winner.

Preview

Cameroon (+110) wants to take the title, and repeat the success from 2017 when they beat Egypt in the ACN finals in Gabon. At the time, it was a big surprise, which just a few expected to see. Now, the whole nation looks towards this team and dreams of another success, putting solid pressure on the players.

Though, for the moment, Antionio Oliveira’s crew is playing well. They are the top-scoring team, hitting the back of the rival’s net twice or more in four of the previous five events. We need to say that they allowed a lot of goals as well. Only the quarterfinals against Gambia saw them keeping clean sheets.

The captain, Vincent Aboubakar, is the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals, while Karl Toko Ekambi has one fewer than his teammate. The two are not only the biggest stars of the crew, but the only ones who can deliver up front.

Egypt (+280) improved as time went by. The Pharaons started the campaign in Cameroon with a loss to Nigeria in the first round, 1-0. After that, they defeated Guinea-Bissau and Sudan with minimal results.

The luck sided with them in the first round of the knockout stage, eliminating the Ivory Coast after a penalty shootout. The regular 90 minutes saw a goalless draw. After that came their only game at this tournament with over 2.5 goals, vs. Morocco in the quarterfinals. The Pharaons came back from behind to win 2-1 following extra times.

As you saw, they rarely score goals, but on the other side, they allowed only two during the entire tournament. The defense is very tight, and there are always two more players ahead of the backline. Whenever Egypt wins the possession, Mo Salah is the target.

Latest News

There isn’t any information about notable absences or injuries on both sides before this matchup.

Head to Head

As mentioned, the previous game was at the ACN 2017 finals, and Cameroon won 2-1. Also, we need to say that when these two sides clash, goals are guaranteed. Four of the previous five ended with both teams netting, and the same number saw over 2.5 hits.

Prediction

Check this out. Cameroon has the best attacks at ACN, but their defense is far below that level. On the other side, Egypt has Salah, who showed his skills in the semis, with a goal and an assist. Therefore, we believe that both teams to score is the best possible pick here. The odds are amazing, +135, which is an additional reason for us to try it.

Pick: Both teams to score +135