AFCON 2023: Mali Vs Burkina Faso Preview
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
In a tie involving two West African team, Mali and Burkina Faso trade tackles in a game that will determine one of the remaining two slot available in the quarter final stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Mali
As the only team to win their group with just one victory (two draws), Mali are entering their third consecutive Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Round of 16 as one of the remaining underdogs.
They extended their unbeaten run in the AFCON group stages to ten games across four tournaments, despite accumulating only three shots on target across draws with Tunisia (1-1) and Namibia (0-0) in their two most recent appearances, leaving a lot of pressure on the defensive unit to keep Burkina Faso quiet.
A streak of 27 consecutive matches – excluding friendlies, walkovers and the African Nations Championship (CHAN) exclusively for home-based players – with one goal or less conceded underlines precisely where their strengths lie as they look to get into the final eight for the first time since 2013.
The history books would suggest they have a strong chance of doing so too, with eight wins from the last ten head-to-heads (H2Hs) between these two sides (a draw and a loss).
Five of the six group-stage games at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium produced under 2.5 total goals.
Player to watch
Auxerre forward Lassine Sinayoko delivered two of Mali’s three group stage goals with one each against South Africa and Tunisia, both of which came at the same venue this game will be hosted.
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso pulled off a shock to finish second in a wild Group D that saw 2019 winners Algeria once again fail to qualify.
They were involved in three separate group-stage games with stoppage-time goals, netting a winner against Mauritania (1-0), conceding to draw with Algeria (2-2), before then having their losing margin against Angola doubled from one to two (2-0).
Read Also – Top Women’s Football Moments In 2023
Like their opponents, they also progressed with just one win and are amongst the outsiders from the remaining knockout participants.
If Burkina Faso are to try and repeat or build upon their impressive fourth-place finish in the previous AFCON, then robust defensive performances are likely to be crucial, largely because they scored just one goal from open play in the group stage – that is the joint-fewest of the 16 teams to advance beyond it.
Players to watch
Bertrand Traoré scored twice from the penalty spot in the group stage and is expected to play such role in case the game gets into penalties or the team win a spot kick.
Verdict
This is a kind of game that can go all the way to extra time and penalties with goals expected from both sides.
Kindly Email: keepup@bettitude.com
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube
About Author
