Africa Cup of Nations tips: Salah eyes spot in final with Egypt
Published:
Africa Cup of Nations tips for the semi-finals
The Africa Cup of Nations is at the business end of the tournament and the first of the semi-finals gets under way on Wednesday when Senegal start as 4/5 favourites to beat Burkina Faso inside 90 minutes.
The biggest tie takes place on Thursday night as tournament hosts Cameroon take on seven-time champions Egypt.
We have Africa Cup of Nations tips from both matches and get the ball rolling at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in the Cameroon capital Yaounde where Burkina Faso are 15/4 underdogs.
Cameroon v Egypt (Thu, 19:00)
Thursday’s match looks to be a much closer affair, according to the odds, with Cameroon viewed as 11/10 favourites and Egypt 13/5 outsiders, while a draw is 9/5.
The Indomitable Lions are the top scorers in the tournament and remarkably all 11 goals have been split between Vincent Aboubakar (6) and Karl Toko Ekambi (5).
This is no #AFCON2021 fan zone. Oh no no.
This is Vincent Aboubakar's backyard!The forward's family invites everyone to their place to watch #TeamCameroon play in the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🤩@FecafootOfficie pic.twitter.com/k7jSiUTOVi
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) February 1, 2022
Aboubakar looks a decent prospect at 4/1 to open the scoring as he has done twice over the course of the tournament, although Ekambi potentially seems a better option at 9/2 having also bagged the opener on a couple of occasions.
Ekambi is 23/10 to score any time and Aboubakar is slightly shorter at 2/1, but it will be tough getting past an Egypt defence that have conceded just twice and only once from open play.
Although the Pharaohs have been strong defensively, they scored just twice in the group stage and shared a goalless draw with Ivory Coast in the round of 16 before prevailing on penalties.
🇪🇬 THE SPIRIT OF THE PHARAOHS 💯 #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #TeamEgypt | @EFA pic.twitter.com/QEfCUuLmeI
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 31, 2022
They also came from behind to beat Morocco in extra time, Mo Salah scoring the equaliser and setting up Trezeguet for the winner in extra time.
Cameroon, the 2017 champions and five time winners, have had an easier route to the final and this will undoubtedly be their sternest test.
Both teams to score at 5/4 catches the eye as one of our Africa Cup of Nations tips and with Egypt winning four of the last five meetings they are 8/1 to win and concede.
Burkina Faso v Senegal (Wed, 19:00)
Several Premier League starts will be on display in Wednesday’s first semi-final in which Liverpool striker Sadio Mane, Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Leicester midfielder Nampalys Mendy are likely to be in Senegal’s starting line-up.
Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate and Watford’s Ismaila Sarr also scored as second-half substitutes in Senegal’s 3-1 quarter-final win against Equatorial Guinea who dominated possession but were behind on the count.
Senegal started the tournament slowly and but for a 97th-minute penalty against Zimbabwe in their opener would have drawn 0-0 in all three group games.
That contagious smile 😁#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #TeamSenegal pic.twitter.com/Sb6nxXwG6i
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 31, 2022
The Lions of Teranga, two-time Africa Cup of Nations runners-up, have conceded just once so far and are 29/20 to win to nil or 23/20 to win and under 3.5 goals.
The last three meetings between these nations have ended in draws and another even 90 minutes is available at 19/10 in our Africa Cup of Nations tips.
Burkina Faso, like Senegal, have never won the tournament, but reached the final for the first time in 2013, six years before Wednesday’s opponents lost 1-0 to Nigeria in the showpiece.
The Stallions are viewed as one of the surprise packages in Cameroon, but they narrowly missed out on the final round of qualifying for this year’s World Cup having twice drawn with group winners Algeria.
🎥 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩 😂🇧🇫#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | #TeamBurkinaFaso pic.twitter.com/kUbqP5bY6h
— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 31, 2022
They beat Gabon on penalties in the round of 16 and then eliminated Tunisia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Dango Ouattara, who was later sent off eight minutes from time and is suspended for this match.
They have also scored exactly once in all five matches and are 8/5 to repeat the trick in the Cameroon capital, while Senegal are 9/2 to win and concede. Goals at both ends also look an interesting prospect at 29/20.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
