Nigeria is set to kick off this years African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) campaign with their clash against The Egyptian Pharaoh’s today. The two African Powerhouses battle for a perfect start to the competition in their Group D kick off.
Both teams rivalry dates back to as far as 1960 as Nigeria punished the Egyptians 2-1 in their first ever friendly encounter. The Nigerian Super Eagles will be looking forward to their fourth title while their counter parts will be looking to conquer the continents record of eighth trophies.
The Super Eagles who will be making their 19th AFCON appearance, after making a smooth entry into the group stages after finishing unbeaten through the qualifiers round.
The Bronze winners in the 2019 edition will go head to head with The Egyptians who are making their 23rd appearance.
The Pharaoh’s failed to qualify for the three subsequent editions after their last title win in 2010, and lost to Cameroon 2-1 in their 2017 AFCON finals.
Team News
The Super Eagles Coach Augustine Eguavoen named a star packed 28-man squad including players like Ahmed Musa, Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Zaidu Sanusi, WIlliam Troost-Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo.
The Nigerian side are also without their star player Victor Osimhen who is the nations top goal scorer after testing positive for the covid-19 virus and also many more players like Odion Ighalo, Emmanuel Dennis, with the likes of Peter Olayinka and Cyriel Dessers coming in as replacements for them.
The Pharaohs also came with a superb squad with the likes or Arsenals Mohhamed Elneny and Liverpool’s star player Mohammed Salah who is the leagues top goals scorer with 16 goals in 20 games so far which makes him a mark to watch out for.
The Egyptian Side will be without the likes of Mohamed Hamdi who sustained an injury on Friday, Ibrahim Adel who suffers from the covid-19 virus and Mohamed Abogabal who is of the same fate as the earlier mentioned.
Possible Starting Lineups
The Nigerias side will be on the field with – Okoye, Sanusi, Troost-Ekong, Omeruo, Aina, Onyeka, Ndidi, Aribo, Chukwueze, Iwobi and Iheanacho.
The Egyptian side will be on the field with- El-Shennawy, Daoud, Hegazi, Fatouh, Ashraf, Fathi, El-Sulya, Elneny, Mohamed, Sherif, and Mohammed Salah.
Predictions
Egypt and Nigerian are two of the most decorated African countries and experienced side which makes this a very nervous and nerve racking match to watch.
We cannot ignore the presence of Mohammed Salah, but Nigeria is heading into this game with a good packed squad who should be able to hold the Egyptian.
We Say Nigeria 1-1 Egypt
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