Africa Cup of Nations: Pharaohs Look to Tame Leopards

Egypt vs DR Congo

Hosts Egypt got their Africa Cup of Nations campaign off to a decent start as they defeated Zimbabwe 1-0 in the tournament opener. Despite dominating for most of the match, though, the Pharaohs didn’t create a number of great opportunities on goal and seemed content with doing enough to come away with the win.

Egypt can secure a place in the knockout stage if they come out on top in their next match against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Leopards were dealt a disappointing upset defeat in their opener by Uganda, who ended a 41-year wait to win at the Africa Cup of Nations finals after a 2-0 triumph.

They now face an uphill battle to pull off a similar upset against the hosts and keep their hopes of reaching the knockout round alive.

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2019 Africa Cup of Nations

Talking Points

Egypt can still get better

Egypt’s opening performance against Zimbabwe wasn’t anything to write home about. As our preview anticipated, the Pharaohs were predictably dominant as they had 59 per cent of possession and had 16 shots (nine on target) compared to Zimbabwe’s 11 (two on target).

The move that led to the winning goal by Trezeguet was a nice bit of quality and one of potentially many other Africa Cup of Nations 2019 highlights. But they were unable to produce enough of that type of brilliance to get a second goal after taking the lead.

Superstar forward Mohamed Salah was quite busy as he supplied seven of the team’s shots, with four going on target. But despite that output, the Liverpool man hardly looked like he was at his sharpest.

With the lack of truly reliable goalscorers in the squad, the Egyptians will need their main man to have his shooting boots on in this tournament. And based on Salah’s terrific scoring record for his country — 39 goals in 63 matches — he is bound to find the back of the net.

Meanwhile, Egypt remain a disciplined defensive unit and will be difficult to break down, especially by a DR Congo side that’s been struggling to score of late.

DR Congo’s struggles continue

DR Congo were caught with their guard down in their 2-0 defeat against Uganda. They were unable to defend against set pieces well enough, which led to Uganda’s two goals. Meanwhile, their attack was subpar as they were outshot, 13-11, and had only three shots on target.

That loss to Uganda is the continuation of a troubling trend for DR Congo. The Leopards, who also failed to win their two warm-up matches prior to the tournament, have now won just once in their last 10 matches, with three defeats and six draws.

They drew three of their final five Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers before beating Liberia 1-0 in their last group game to go through as runners-up.

The big concern for the Leopards has been the sheer lack of goalscoring. They have failed to score over two goals in any of those last 10 matches.

With veteran striker Dieumerci Mbokani not part of the Cup of Nations squad, midfielder Tresor Mputu (14 goals in 51 caps) is the only Leopard with over 10 international goals.

Star striker Cedric Bakambu, the most expensive African in history, did not take part in the majority of those 10 matches, though. And with eight goals in 22 caps, he is capable of providing a much-needed spark in attack.

But he was unable to deliver sufficient quality against Uganda, and it will be all the more difficult for him and the Leopards against Egypt’s much more organised defence.

DR Congo are set to face Egypt in the Matchday 2 of the Africa Cup of Nations — DR Congo players pose for their team group photo before the match against Uganda

History

A major reason why the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 betting odds have Egypt as the tournament favourites is due to their brilliant record on home turf against African opposition. Their last home defeat to an African foe came against Senegal back in 2014.

Speaking of being undefeated, Egypt have yet to lose to DR Congo in seven all-time meetings (five wins, two draws). They’ve won both meetings at the Africa Cup of Nations, including the most recent one back in 2006, 4-1.

Betting Tip

	Egypt vs DR Congo	Egypt Asian Handicap -0.75 @ 1.58
	June 27, 04:00 (GMT+8)

SBOBET odds are not high on DR Congo’s chances of knocking off the hosts. The Leopards are priced at 5.60 on the 1X2 market to deliver a huge upset, while Egypt are 1.51 favourites.

While the Pharaohs didn’t perform up to their full potential against Zimbabwe, there’s every chance that they finally turn up the style against DR Congo.

The Leopards don’t seem to have the firepower to trouble Egypt’s steadfast defence. And on the other end, Salah is fully capable of supplying the necessary quality to hand the hosts a comfortable win.