Egypt-Ghana is a match valid for the group stage of the African Cup of Nations and is played Thursday at 9 p.m.: free-to-air TV, streaming, lineups, predictions.
The two most surprising results of the first day of the day phase both concern Group B, the one in which two of the continent’s most emblazoned selections, Egypt and Ghana, were drawn.
Both the Pharaohs and the Black Stars, however, failed to live up to expectations in their debut: Salah and his teammates, the reigning vice-champions, managed to avoid defeat against Mozambique only at the last second thanks to a penalty kick by the Liverpool striker (2-2); resounding, on the other hand, was what happened in the match involving the Ghanaian representative, beaten by surprise by Cape Verde (1-2). A false start that forced the men led by Rui Vitoria and those coached by Chris Hughton not to make a mistake in the next match, which became a sort of in-or-out clash. Egypt right now has one point more than Ghana in the standings and is paired with the Mozambicans. The last time the Pharaohs failed to win either of their first two matches in the event was back in 1992. With Sunday’s draw, the North Africans extended their streak of positive results to six: they have not lost since last September.
Between disappointments
In contrast, there had been some warning of a possible flop as far as Ghana was concerned: from October on, the Black Stars had only been able to prevail over Madagascar.
Selector Hughton hopes to count on one of his best men, West Ham striker Kudus, who was absent in the debut match with Cape Verde. In case of a forfeit, the coach will ask for a little effort from the other stars of the West African national team, Salisu, Inaki Williams and the two Ayew brothers. There will be no major changes in Egypt’s 11, which in attack will confirm the trident formed by Salah, Mohamed and Trezeguet.
The prediction
The record puts a smile on Egypt’s face, unbeaten in its last four challenges with Ghana. The Pharaohs start slightly favored again this time in a match in which neither can afford to make too many calculations. The total goals could be at least three.
Egypt-Ghana
likely lineups.
EGYPT (4-3-3): El-Shenawy; Hany, Hegazy, Abdelmonem, Hamdi; Zizo, Elneny, Fathi; Salah, Mohamed, Trezeguet.
GHANA (4-5-1): Ofori; Odoi, Dijku, Salisu, Mensah; Ashimeru, Baba, Paintsil, Konigsdorffer, J. Ayew; Semenyo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
