Two North African outfits Egypt and Morocco are set to face each other this weekend at Stade d’Olembé in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter finals. Kickoff schedules for 30th January 2022 at 18:00 EAT.
Egypt is one of the most decorated sides in Africa with a record seven Africa Cup of Nations titles, with their last triumph coming in 2010. However, they had to rely on penalties to get through to the Quarters, and so far they have not delivered a single performance from which they could derive confidence. They have a good defense, and that’s pretty much it.
Egypt gets into this fixture following on 0-0 Africa Cup of Nations stalemate versus Ivory Coast after 120 minutes in their previous match. In that game, Egypt had 45% possession and 13 shots with three of them on target. Ivory Coast got 11 shots at goal with seven of them on target. Egypt emerged winners after a 5-4 penalty shootout.
On the other hand, Morocco is unbeaten in competitive games in over four years, and even including friendlies they have lost just four times in this period. In fact, they had won 26 of their past 31 games, and in the process had even gone on a 12-match winning streak.
Morocco will want similar results coming off 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations victory against Malawi in their last fixture. In that match, Morocco had 75% possession, 24 shots with 10 on target and goals scored by Youssef En-Nesyri (45′) and Achraf Hakimi (70′). Malawi got four shots with two of them on target and a goal by Mhango (7′).
Egypt vs Morocco head to head
This will be the third official meeting between the two sides since 2006. Egypt took victory in one of the two matches while the other one ended with the spoils shared.
- Egypt 1-0 Morocco 29/01/17
- Egypt 0-0 Morocco 24/01/06
Home
- Ivory Coast 4-5 Egypt
- Egypt 1-0 Sudan
- Guinea-bissau 0-1 Egypt
- Nigeria 1-0 Egypt
- Egypt 4-5 Qatar
Away
- Morocco 2-1 Malawi
- Gabon 2-2 Morocco
- Morocco 2-0 Comoros
- Morocco1-0 Ghana
- Morocco 3-5 Algeria
Egypt team news
Goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy and midfielder Hamdi Fathi were substituted late on against Ivory Coast following injuries and they won’t be available for The Pharaohs in this game.
Morocco team news
Ilias Chair is the only confirmed absentee for the visitors in this fixture.
Prediction and odds
Both teams have shown remarkable improvement since the tournament kicked off and there is no doubt Egypt boasts the best defense in the event, but we are backing The Atlas Lions who have hit their stride as they appear simply unstoppable at the moment.
- Morocco Win
- Draw
- Goals under 2.5
