Africa Cup of Nations: Morocco vs the Minnows

Morocco vs Benin

Get set for a David versus Goliath clash in the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 this week; as Benin takes on Morocco at the Al-Salam Stadium.

The Atlas Lions have coasted through their group with three wins to top Group D, with the highly fancied Ivory Coast trailing in second place. Meanwhile, at 88^th in the FIFA World Rankings Benin is a nation punching above its weight. They qualified in third place from Group F and they’ll want to stay in the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 news as long as they can.

The Squirrels (the smallest animal in the tournament) managed to pick up enough points to make it to the last 16, thanks to three gutsy performances. And now Michel Dussuyer’s side has the chance to keep the dream alive in the hope of making it to the last eight, where the winner of this game will meet either Uganda or Senegal, most likely the latter on current form.

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2019 Africa Cup of Nations

Talking Points

Morocco are potential AFCON winners

While the Atlas Lions haven’t been headlining in our SBOBET predictions they have had a perfect start to their campaign, and are now in a group of potential winners.

They probably didn’t expect to top Group D, but in reality they never looked in any danger of dropping points, taking some useful momentum into the knockout phase. The Atlas Lions bossed the group favourites. Herve Renard’s team was better than their opponents all over the pitch in a 1-0 victory over a strong Ivory Coast side and, again, against South Africa they dominated possession, scored the goal they needed and limited their opponents to two shots on goal. A 1-0 win against Namibia made it a perfect three.

If they are to go deep into the competition then their fans will hope Morocco can score more goals. They are well organised and do have some flair players in attack. Ajax star Hakim Ziyech is the stand out performer. The 26 year old forward has 14 goals from 28 international appearances. Meanwhile Leganes striker Youssef En-Nesyri has got off the mark in the tournament, and a last minute goal against South Africa, courtesy of Moubarak Boussoufa, guaranteed nine points for Renard’s men.

Benin unbeaten

Three draws were enough to win Benin a place in the Round of 16 as one of the best third placed sides. Draws against Ghana and Cameroon are an impressive return for such a small and inexperienced side, and they have made the knockout stage for the first time.

Despite the three draws, Benin forced themselves to advance to Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage — Mickael Pote scored twice against Ghana to give the Squirrels an unlikely point

They called on the know how of 34 year old striker Mickael Pote in a 2-2 draw with Ghana, as the Adana Demirspor scored a brace. Those two are the only goals scored by the Squirrels so far, but they showed plenty of fight to earn their point against Cameroon, having only 27 per cent possession and just one shot on target, but they kept a priceless clean sheet to qualify for the Round of 16.

Ghana and Cameroon were widely expected to battle it out for supremacy in Group F and so it turned out to be, but Benin has done its job very well indeed.

History

This is the first meeting of Morocco and Benin in the Africa Cup of Nations. The Squirrels have gone further than ever before, while the Atlas Lions are hoping to win a trophy they last lifted way back in 1976.

The head to heads stats are one-sided as you’d expect. Morocco has won all four meetings between the two sides, the last being a 3-1 triumph in a 2008 friendly, and prior to that they had three kept clean sheets against Benin.

Benin is in decent form this year, losing just one in six, but in the run up to this competition they met modest opposition, making the draws against Ghana and Cameroon all the more impressive.

The Atlas Lions lost their three warm up games, but have won the next three, without conceding a goal, when it actually matters, and that has to inform our Morocco vs Benin betting tips for sure.

Betting Tip

	Morocco vs Benin	2-3 Total Goals @ 1.88
	July 6, 00:00 (GMT+8)

Morocco is expected to win this tie at 1.50, while the draw is at 3.55 and Benin is at 5.80 for a surprise win.

While the Atlas Lions are overwhelming favourites, there is a one goal difference predicted, with Morocco at 1.96 with a -1.00 handicap, and Benin at 1.88 with the +1.00 start.

Given Morocco’s three 1-0 wins and Benin’s failure to score in two of their group games, 1-0 looks a likely outcome. But I think momentum is with Morocco and they will win this one in a little more comfort.