Senegal, Guinea, Zimbabwe, and Malawi are in Group B of the African Cup of Nations 2021

On Monday, Senegal will play against Zimbabwe and Guinea against Malawi.

Senegal

• 1-2 place in the group: 1.05
• Group winner: 1.29
• Tournament winner: 6.0

Unlike the other ten final-stage competitors, the Senegalese have never won the Africa Cup of Nations, but it appears that the moment has arrived. The Terangi Lions are the only African national team in the top 20 of the FIFA rankings, and their primary squad costs the world’s 12th most (Croatians and Danes are cheaper). Coulibaly is unlikely to participate, but Manet, Mendy, Diallo, Gueye, and the others are ready.

Senegal had only one defeat in the previous 18 matches, and it came in the semi-friendly KOSAFA tournament when they played with an experimental side. The Senegalese scored 15 goals in six matches and have beaten all of their group competitors in the last three years.

Guinea

• 1-2 place in the group: 1.38
• Group winner: 5.5
• Tournament winner: 50.0

A powerful middle peasant, but with little possibility of forcing competition on Senegal. Only Keita has to count among the three leaders – Eli Moriba has a covid, and Amadou Diawar has no practice in Roma this season (only 2 main appearances in Serie A).

Furthermore, even in matches against Zimbabwe and Malawi, the Guineans might make mistakes – the defence does not hold up to scrutiny, and the offence does not shine:

1. 7-match losing skid;
2. they scored more goals in this phase only once (2: 2 versus Sudan);
3. 10 missed in 4 matches.

Zimbabwe

• 1-2 place in the group: 4.2
• Group winner: 13.0
• Tournament winner: 75.0

They don’t have high hopes for Zimbabwe, a team that has never advanced to the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals. The average age of the “warriors” travelling to Cameroon is 28.6 years (older – only Cape Verde’s application is older), however recent experience has not decided:

• only earned one victory in 19 matches in the last two years;
• scored more goals just once in 2021;
• scored a total of two goals in seven matches.

Even with Guinea’s present form, Zimbabwe cannot hope to finish second in the group – the absence of attacking talent does not bode well for the future.

Malawi

• 1-2 place in the group: 4.3
• Group winner: 13.0
• Tournament winner: 150.0

What can you expect from a squad whose total offer is less than 5 million euros and whose past four matches were lost by a combined score of 1:10? Gabadino Mkhango, the sole hope in the attack, played only two club matches this year.

Malawi is a strong squad for betting on the “top” of the opponent’s total – the “ferocious” ones have a defence problem:

• missed out on the second-worst outcome in the selection for the 2022 World Cup;
• conceded at least twice in eight of the past 11 games.

The leaders are barely resisted – the two-legged match with Cameroon was lost by a score of 0: 6, and the match with Cote d’Ivoire was lost by a score of 1: 5. The deadly “fire” must be defeated not only by Senegal but also by Guinea.