Scoring Trends Favour Cape Verde Ahead of AFCON Last-16 Showdown with Mauritania
Cape Verde vs Mauritania - 29/01/2024
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It’s knockout time in the Africa Cup of Nations. With 16 teams remaining in the tournament, the quarter-final lineup will be determined in the coming days.
On Monday, Cape Verde and Mauritania will lock horns at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium as both sides aim to reach the last eight.
Cape Verde cruised into the knockout phase with an unbeaten record, while Mauritania scraped through as one of the best third-placed teams.
A fortnight ago, Cape Verde kicked off their AFCON campaign with a 2-1 victory over Ghana before claiming a comfortable 3-0 win against Mozambique.
On Monday, the Blue Sharks secured top spot in Group B thanks to a 2-2 with Egypt, courtesy of Bryan Teixeira’s 99th-minute equaliser.
Having scored seven goals during the group stage, only two teams possess a better offensive record than Cape Verde ahead of the knockout phase.
It is also worth pointing out that Cape Verde have avoided defeat in each of their last five competitive matches, netting nine goals while keeping three clean sheets.
Meanwhile, Mauritania started their AFCON journey with two losses, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Burkina Faso before losing 3-2 against Angola.
In their final group game, however, the Lions of Chinguetti upset the odds to defeat Algeria 1-0 and qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.
Tuesday’s victory ended a five-game winless run for Mauritania, who endured a stretch of two draws and three losses before defeating the Algerians.
Still, the Lions of Chinguetti can take confidence from the fact that this is their first-ever appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations knockout phase.
Head-to-head: Cape Verde and Mauritania have met 11 times since 1982, with the Lions of Chinguetti winning on only three occasions.
That said, Mauritania won the most recent meeting between the two sides, claiming a 2-1 victory over Cape Verde back in 2019.
Team news: Cape Verde will likely continue with a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Gilson Tavares leading the line and Kevin pina anchoring the midfield.
Mauritania are expected to match Cape Verde’s system, meaning Souleymane Anne will continue to operate as the lone striker.
If performances during the group stage are anything to go by, free-scoring Cape Verde should get the better of inexperienced Mauritania.
Forebet predicts that Cape Verde will secure a clean-sheet victory over Mauritania, booking their place in the quarter-finals as a result.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Acn
433918
1
1 - 0
1.89
31°
2.00
2.00
2.88
4.75
no
no
no
1 - 0(0 - 0)
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