Senegal vs Cameroon prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2024-01-18 17:00.
The reigning Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) champions Senegal began their 2024 campaign with a rather comfortable 3-0 victory over a ten-man Gambia. After other big-named favourites such as Nigeria, Egypt and Ghana failed to deliver wins in round one, Senegal’s victory extended their unbeaten streak in the competition to eight matches (W6, D2) and set them up nicely for another tilt at winning the competition.
Their next challenge comes in the form of 2017 champions Cameroon, the nation that knocked Senegal out of the cup on the way to lifting the trophy back then. The two great African nations have played each other only once since that game when Senegal won 1-0 in October last year, meaning they could post a double whammy of both qualifying for the knockout phase and registering back-to-back wins over Cameroon for the first time since the 1960s with victory here.
Anything less than victory for the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will leave them looking over their shoulders ahead of their final group game, though any early exit seems unlikely given they progressed from ten of their last 11 AFCON group stages. Possibly key to boosting a continuation of that competition pedigree will be the return of keeper Andre Onana, who has now reported for duty after featuring for Manchester United over the weekend.
That could be especially pertinent as Cameroon enter this clash on the back of three straight games without a clean sheet, whilst having to claw back a 1-0 deficit to draw in each of the last two. In fact, Cameroon have conceded exactly once in five of their last six matches and another low scoring affair could be on the cards here seeing that none of the last eight H2Hs have produced over 1.5 total goals.
Players to watch: Lamine Camara was at the double for Senegal in round one, with his second goal – and Senegal’s third – registering his nation’s ninth unanswered goal across the last five internationals. Trying to outdo him will be Cameroon’s round one scorer Frank Magri, who also scored for club side Toulouse in a 3-0 Ligue 1 win over Camara’s Metz earlier this season.
Hot stat: Each of Cameroon’s last three AFCON tournament games have been level after 90 minutes, one more will equal their longest such streak in competition history.