Will the Pharaohs make the play-offs?
While final decisions are already being made in Europe in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers, African teams are striving to make it to the final round these days. The ten group winners of the current phase qualify for the play-offs. With Senegal and Morocco, two participants have already been determined. Egypt can make the jump on Friday if they win in Angola.
In the standings of this group of four, the Pharaohs are at the top with ten points after four of six matchdays. Libya with six points and, theoretically, Gabon (4 points) could still push the Egyptians out of first place. However, their prospects are limited, as Carlos Queiroz’s team only need one win from their last two matches in Angola and at home against Gabon.
The Pharaohs, however, want to make everything clear on Friday and win in Angola. The Palancas Negras already have no chance of making it to Qatar. Nevertheless, they will try to make life difficult for the league leaders, but it is clear that in the Angola vs. Egypt clash, the forecast is clearly for an away win.
The North Africans will not want to miss the chance to clinch the group victory in Luanda. The Angolans’ best days are over, while the Pharaohs have assembled possibly the best squad ever.
Angola – statistics & current form
The Angolan team can no longer do more than tip the scales. The current task is to build a new team that will play successful football again in the coming years, because the 2006 World Cup participants have not only missed the World Cup in Qatar, but will also not take part in the Africa Cup in Cameroon next January.
Wins have rarity value
The Palancas Negras seem to have their best days behind them. This is more than evident in their current form, as the Angolans have won only two of their past ten matches, both against Gabon. Now that the opponent has a different name, we can apparently disregard the odds on a home win in the Angola vs Egypt match.
In October, the team of the Portuguese coach Pedro Goncalves has at least one win from two games. They won 3:1 at home against Gabon. Just a few days later, however, they were beaten 2-0 away by the same opponents. Egypt will be a different calibre of opponent in Luanda.
However, the Angolans can hope for the debut of Helder Costa. The former Portuguese international was born in Angola and has only played in youth and friendly matches for Portugal. Now he could make his first appearance for the Palancas Negras. The Valencia FC attacker is without question the new star in the team, especially as many of Angola’s internationals are still under contract in their homeland.
Predicted line-up of Angola:
Marques – To Carneiro, Buatu, Gaspar, Afonso – Mario Balburdia, Show – Carlinhos, Herenilson, Helder Costa – Mateus Galiano – Coach: Goncalves
Last matches played by Angola:
World Cup Qualifier CAF – 2nd Round – Grp. F
10/11 2021 – Gabon 2 – 0 Angola
10/08 2021 – Angola 3 – 1 Gabon
09/07 2021 – Angola 0 – 1 Libya
09/01 2021 – Egypt 1 – 0 Angola
Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier Gr. D
03/29 2021 – Angola 2 – 0 Gabon
Egypt – Statistics & current form
Egypt were eliminated from the 2018 World Cup in Russia in the preliminary round without any results. Mo Salah and his comrades have a score to settle with the World Cup and therefore there is no alternative but to qualify for next year’s tournament in Qatar. At the very least, winning the group at the current stage should only be a formality.
Strong series of the Pharaohs
The Egyptians have not lost for 13 matches and are in good form. However, coach Hossam El Badry has been replaced by Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, who is now in charge of the Pharaohs for the fourth time. Under the new coach, there have been three wins so far and therefore we assume that between Angola and Egypt a prediction for a guest victory should fit.
In October, there were two eminently important victories against the neighbours from Libya. In their own stadium, it was initially only enough for a 1-0 win, but in the return match, the differences in quality became clearer. In Libya, the Pharaohs won 3-0 after goals from Ahmed Fatou, Mostafa Mohamed and Ramadan Sobhi.
The Egyptians will be looking to build on this performance on Friday, but one very important man will be missing. The big names Ahmed Hegazy, Mohamed Elneny and Mohamed Salah will all be involved, but Omar Marmoush from VfB Stuttgart, Egypt’s shooting star, will be missing through injury.
Predicted line-up of Egypt:
El Shenawy – Ahmed Fatouh, Hegazy, Hamdi, Tawfik – Elneny, El Solia, Said – Adel, Salah, Mohamed – Coach: Queiroz
Last matches played by Egypt:
World Cup Qualifiers CAF – 2nd Round – Grp. F
10/11 2021 – Libya 0 – 3 Egypt
10/08 2021 – Egypt 1 – 0 Libya
Friendly
09/30 2021 – Egypt 2 – 0 Liberia
World Cup Qualifier CAF – 2nd Round – Grp. F
09/05 2021 – Gabon 1 – 1 Egypt
09/01 2021 – Egypt 1 – 0 Angola
Angola – Egypt Direct comparison / H2H balance
The selection teams from Angola and Egypt have met six times so far. In the direct comparison, the Pharaohs clearly have the edge, as Egypt leads 4-0 after victories. Two other duels ended in a draw. That means the Palancas Negras are still waiting for a win against their North African opponents.
As a rule, however, things have been close between these two teams. All four Egyptian victories have been celebrated with only a one-goal difference, including the last encounter in Cairo in September. On that occasion, the Egyptians won 1-0 after Afsha’s penalty, although the England legionnaires were not allowed to play in that match either because of the pandemic.
Angola – Egypt Tip
The Egyptians will want to seize the opportunity and close the bag in this group stage. With a win, everything is clear and they can already set themselves up for the Africa Cup in the final group game. Therefore, we expect the Pharaohs to win on Friday.
After all, the Egyptians have not lost any of their last 13 matches and have not lost to Angola at all. We can’t imagine that this will change and are surprised that the odds on an away win are so high at the best bookmakers. All the more reason to place a bet on the visitors between Angola and Egypt.
The Palancas Negras have won just two of their last ten international matches. After all, they have never lost heavily in their previous duels against the Pharaohs. A bet on a handicap win therefore does not necessarily seem advisable. We have therefore decided to play the betting odds on a simple away win between Angola and Egypt.
