On Tuesday, Senegal and Cape Verde go head-to-head at Kouekong Stadium for a place in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Senegal (ranked No. 20 in the world) are the highest-ranked team remaining in the tournament. Naturally, they are one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
By contrast, Cape Verde (ranked No. 73 in the world) are among the outsiders. Can Bubista’s men upset the odds on Tuesday?
Although Senegal have yet to taste defeat at AFCON 2021, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that they failed to live up to expectations during the group stage.
In their first match, the Lions of Teranga required a 97th-minute penalty from Liverpool forward Sadio Mane to edge out Zimbabwe 1-0.
They were then held to goalless draws by Guinea and Malawi, meaning they finished just one point ahead of those two sides in Group B.
Although Senegal have yet to concede a goal at AFCON 2021, they have only managed to score a single goal in reply.
Still, the Lions of Teranga will be confident of getting past Cape Verde, having avoided defeat in each of their previous 13 games across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Cape Verde picked up four points during the group stage to finish as one of the best third-placed teams.
After beating Ethiopia 1-0, they lost to Burkina Faso by the same scoreline before holding host nation Cameroon to a 1-1 draw.
As a result, each of Cape Verde’s last six Africa Cup of Nations clashes have produced under 2.5 goals. That means we should see a relatively low-scoring encounter on Tuesday.
Having lost just two of their previous 15 matches in all competitions, Bubista’s side won’t go down without a fight.
Head-to-head: Senegal and Cape Verde have faced each other 18 times over the years, with Cape Verde winning on just two occasions.
The two sides played a couple of World Cup qualifiers in 2016 and 2017, with Senegal winning both matches 2-0.
Team news: With Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly back from COVID, Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse has a full-strength squad to choose from.
Cape Verde will be relying on Garry Rodrigues to lead the charge on Tuesday. The Olympiacos winger bagged a goal and an assist in the group stage.
Granted, Senegal have yet to hit top gear. But their star-studded team shouldn’t struggle to get the better of Cape Verde.
Forebet predicts that Senegal will score over 1.5 goals on their way to victory, keeping yet another clean sheet in the process.