Guinea Bissau vs Nigeria prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2024-01-21 17:00.
They may have already been dumped out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Guinea-Bissau can still make history in their final group game. The Djurtus, who are competing at the tournament for the fourth time, are still awaiting their first victory at the competition, with defeats to hosts Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea taking their record to eight losses in 11 matches (D3).
Baciro Candé’s side have also now lost three internationals in a row for the first time since the back end of 2020, leading to an increasing number of supporters calling for Candé’s eight-year reign as manager to come to an end. The under-pressure boss stated he retains “hope” that they can end that poor run by rounding off their Group A campaign with a victory, but prospects look bleak, especially due to their leaky defence which has conceded 12 goals across those three aforementioned defeats.
Improving that record against a Nigeria side who have failed to score in only one of their last ten fixtures (W5, D4, L1) won’t be easy, with that run including a 1-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau last March. The three-time AFCON champions also have plenty to play for, as a draw in this fixture will be enough to reach the knock-out stages for the third time in a row, but they’ll undoubtedly have their eye on a victory which would see them top the group if Equatorial Guinea fail to beat Ivory Coast in the other match.
Their sole victory so far was a surprise 1-0 win over Ivory Coast on Thursday, a result that manager José Peseiro believes “God gave” to his side. Even without divine intervention, history suggests they should be capable of adding to that success, as the Super Eagles have only lost three of their last 22 AFCON group games (W15, D4), a run dating back to January 2004!
Players to watch: Three of Zinha Gano’s four goals for Guinea-Bissau have come after HT, as have six of his last eight strikes in club football. Attempting to out-gun him will be fellow striker Victor Osimhen, who has never been beaten in a game in which he has scored for Nigeria (W10, D4).
Hot stat: Only three of Guinea-Bissau’s last 12 competitive internationals have seen both teams score.