Gabon and Morocco look tasty African Nations Cup double
Published:Equatorial Guinea’s victory in the opening match of the African Nations Cup has heightened the pressure on Gabon going into their first showdown of the tournament with potential Group C whipping boys Niger.
Gabon arguably have a far easier start than their tournament co-hosts, who caused a mini shock when beating Libya.
Instead, Gabon face a team preparing to make their African Nations Cup debut and are 8/15 to secure maximum points.
Niger have made great strides just to qualify for the tournament and are 5/1 to continue their progress with a surprise success.
However, a 2-0 Gabon triumph looks appealing at 6/1 in the African Nations Cup odds, while Daniel Cousin, who will be recognised through his Premier League spell at Hull and time in Scotland with Rangers, is 5/1 to score the opener.
The other clash in Group C may generate more betting appeal as it is between the two heavyweights in north African duo Morocco and Tunisia.
Morocco look rightly the slight favourites at 7/5, having won their group during qualifying and on paper seemingly having the stronger squad, particularly in attack.
Meanwhile, revenge will arguably still be in the minds of Morocco for the defeat they suffered against Tunisia in the final of the tournament in 2004, alongside having a point to prove for failing to even qualify for the African Nations Cup two years ago.
French coach Eric Gerets has also spoken highly of Morocco’s productive preparation in Spain and their impressive recent friendly success over Niger.
Tunisia had to settle for second spot behind minnows Botswana in qualifying, but their coaching set up now looks more settled and cohesion should be strong on the pitch with six of the squad plying their trade at African club champions Esperance.
It is 7/4 that Tunisia triumph and 21/10 that the outcome is a draw, which was the result when the pair last met in an official game in 2007.
