South Africa Know a Point Could be Good Enough
2075
We are fast approaching the end of the group stages in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Group D could have a very tight finish and, on the 1st July, South Africa will be playing Morocco at the Al Salam Stadium, Cairo with a place in the round of 16 on the line.
As things stand in the group, Morocco are top on 6 points having won both their games to date and have already qualified. They can relax somewhat knowing the job is done. However, South Africa are in third place on 3 points. They know a win would seal qualification but a draw may also be enough to send them through as one of the best third place teams.
South Africa started the competition with a tricky assignment against one of the favourites, Ivory Coast. They did well in spells but South Africa could not prevent the opposition from scoring and struggled to break Ivory Coast down at the other end of the pitch.
The second game of the group was the most crucial for South Africa and they got the job done in a derby against Namibia. It wasn’t until the 68th minute that South Africa got the breakthrough but they held on to secure the win.
Trends show it was only their second win in their last fifteen Africa Cup of Nations matches.
Morocco come into this game knowing they do not need to win. It remains to be seen if they will make a lot of changes to the starting XI but some are inevitable with the turnaround in games and the heat in Egypt.
The Atlas Lions were not great in their first game despite being the overwhelming favourites to beat Namibia. Not only did they fail to make the breakthrough until the 89th minute it was an own goal. That means Morocco have only scored a single goal themselves in the tournament to date and that came in the big 1-0 win over Ivory Coast.
Morocco can thank goalkeeper Yassin Bounou for keeping Ivory Coast out thanks to some great saves but the Moroccan defence has been strong for some time. Trends show they conceded 3 goals in six games during qualification and have kept five clean sheets in their last six competitive matches.
Looking ahead to the team news and South Africa will stick close to the same XI which started against Namibia. They are likely to start in a 4-5-1 formation with Lebo Mothiba leading the line.
Morocco may rotate some players, especially in midfield and attack. Hakim Ziyach could be replaced by Sofiane Boufal, while Manuel da Costa and Noussair Mazraoui could also start the game.
South Africa will want to keep things tight in this match knowing a point could be good enough to send them through. Morocco are solid at the back and unlikely to conceded so this game could end with under 2.5 goals. Morocco to win to nil is the best option.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Acn
324028
X
1 - 1
2.40
29°
2.43
4.25
2.43
2.30
1
1
-1
0 - 1(0 - 0)
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