Senegal and Equatorial Guinea will be vying for a spot in the semifinals of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations when they meet in Yaounde on Sunday. The former enter the encounter as favorites and will be poised to replicate their feat in the 2019 edition held in Egypt where they featured in the finals. Needless to say, it has been far from a stroll for the Teranga Lions who are still yet to take the tournament by storm.
Aliou Cisse's men began their quest by securing a 1-0 victory over Zimbabwe in their group opener before featuring in successive goalless draws against Guinea and Malawi to finish atop Group B. In the Round of 16, an inspirational performance saw them defeat Cape Verde by two goals to nil, with Sadio Mane and substitute Ahmadou Bamba Dieng getting on the scoresheet.
While the football has not been entirely pretty, it is the robust nature of Senegal defense that has been the backbone of the run they have enjoyed thus far. At the moment, the Teranga Lions remain the only team in the competition yet to concede. In addition, they are currently on a 10-game unbeaten run across competitions, picking up seven wins and three draws. They have lost only once in their last 15 games.
Having witness numerous upsets ensuing at this year's competition, the attractiveness of Senegal's run may only serve a purpose on paper and not the actual grounds where they will battle with Equatorial Guinea. The National Thunder have established themselves as favorites of neutrals, dropping one inspirational performance after the other. On Sunday, the will approach the clash with Senegal on the back of another top performance which saw them hold their ground and eliminate a slightly superior Mali side via penalty shootout.
They began their campaign with a defeat to Ivory Coast in their first group game but bounced back with a stunning 1-0 win over defending champions Algeria. This was subsequently followed by another impressive performance which resulted in a 1-0 win over Sierra Leone to progress to the knockout stages as runners-up in Group E.
While they may not be fancied to do the unthinkable against Senegal, Equatorial Guinea will take their chance having registered only one defeat in their last nine outings.
Match facts
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This will be only the second time Senegal and Equatorial Guinea have met in the Africa Cup of Nations, with the National Thunder winning the first match in the group stages in 2012. (2-1).
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Senegal has advanced from three of their last five Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final matches, and they are aiming to make the semi-finals in consecutive championships for the first time.
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Equatorial Guinea have only lost one of their last five Africa Cup of Nations games (W2 D2), keeping four clean sheets and conceding just once.
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Since 2017, Sadio Mané has scored 44 percent of Senegal's goals (7/16 eliminating own goals) at the Africa Cup of Nations, with none of his teammates scoring more than once.
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Senegal has won more games (9) and maintained more clean sheets (12) than any other team in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Predicted starting XI
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Senegal: E Mendy; Sarr, Koulibaly, A Diallo, Ciss; P Gueye, N Mendy, I Gueye; H Diallo, Dieng, Dia
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Equatorial Guinea: Owono; Akapo, Coco, Orozco, Ndong; Salvador, Ganet, Machin, Buyla; Siafa, Hanza.
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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