AFCON 2023: Tunisia Vs Mali Preview
Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji
Following their shock late defeat to Namibia in round one, Tunisia will enter this Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) round two match at risk of failing to make it out of the group stage for the first time since 2013 with another negative result.
Tunisia
The Carthage Eagles have reached the quarter-final stage in each of the last four editions, so returning to the kind of form which saw them unbeaten in four outings ahead of the tournament would be ideal (three wins and a draw).
Although Tunisia’s opener was a shock as far as the result goes, the scoreline was not.
All but one of their last eight AFCON tournament games ended with a 1-0 scoreline, albeit with Tunisia on the wrong end of six of them (two wins and six losses).
Just two of Tunisia’s last 17 internationals matches saw both teams score on the day.
Player to watch
Each of Ellyes Shkiri’s three scoring appearances in his national team colours saw his side win by a three-goal margin.
Mali
That sense of Tunisian trepidation is non-existent as far as Mali are concerned, as they travel here on the back of a stunning nine-game unbeaten run across all internationals (seven wins and two draws).
That run culminated in a routine 2-0 win over South Africa in their AFCON opener, leaving them already just one win away from reaching their third consecutive knockout phase in this competition.
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Mali’s opening day victory was their fourth consecutive AFCON winning game which was accompanied by a clean sheet, although they are often at risk of a post-win hangover as they’ve not posted back-to-back wins in the same tournament since 2012.
If they break that hoodoo here, it may well be another low-scoring game as similarly to their opponents, none of their last eight AFCON tournament games have produced more than two goals.
Players to watch
Kamory Doumbia enters this match in flying form for both club and country as the Malian ace has now notched eight goal contributions across his last six appearances (five goals and three assists).
Head to head
Low scoring affairs are not uncommon when these two sides meet either, with three of the four head to heads since the turn of the decade also ending 1-0, whilst none produced over 1.5 goals in total (Tunisia two wins, a draw and a loss).
Verdict
Expect a low scoring encounter with draw written all over the game.
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