Morocco will be aiming to book their place in the Africa Cup of Nations when they face Mauritania in Nouakchott on Friday.
Mauritania currently sit second in Group E – one point ahead of third-place Burundi and two points ahead of last-place Central African Republic.
On the flip side, Morocco are sitting pretty at the top of Group E – five points clear of second-place Mauritania.
Mauritania have only managed to win one of their four qualifying games, recording two draws and one defeat along the way.
In their previous match, Mauritania were beaten 3-1 by Burundi, with Mamadou Niass scoring their only goal of the game.
Looking at the bigger picture, Mauritania have only managed to win two of their last 11 matches in all competitions.
Mauritania were able to hold Morocco to a goalless draw in the reverse fixture, although the two sides last met back in November 2019.
Meanwhile, Morocco head into Friday’s game on a 15-match unbeaten streak, with 12 wins and three draws coming in that time.
The Atlas Lions have won each of their previous four games in all competitions, scoring a combined total of 14 goals during that period.
After thrashing Uganda 5-2, Morocco beat Zambia (3-1), Cameroon (4-0) and Mali (2-0) en route to winning the 2020 African Nations Championship.
It is also worth noting that Morocco have won at half-time and full-time in each of their previous three games.
Head-to-head: Mauritania and Morocco played out a goalless draw in the reverse fixture back in November 2019.
Prior to that, Morocco thrashed Mauritania 4-0 in the 2018 African Nations Championship, so the Atlas Lions are expected to avoid defeat on Friday.
Team news: Real Valladolid midfielder El Hacen is arguably Mauritania’s standout player, while Diallo Guidileye is also worth keeping an eye on.
On the other hand, Morocco’s squad is packed with big-name stars, belonging to some of Europe’s top clubs.
Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla), Achraf Hakimi (Inter Milan) and Romain Saiss (Wolves) are among the notable names.
Given that Mauritania and Morocco produced a draw in the reverse fixture, another tight game is on the cards this time around.
Forbet predicts that Mauritania will hold Morocco to a draw on Friday, with under 2.5 goals expected to be scored.