Gambia vs Cameroon prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2024-01-22 17:00.
It’s been a bleak Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) so far for Gambia who are on the brink of elimination after two defeats from their opening two Group D clashes against Senegal and then Guinea. They failed to score a single goal across those matches, and are now actually without a goal in three successive games, while they're facing a fifth consecutive loss here for the first time since June 2013.
They’ll desperately want to avoid that fate and restore some pride here against Cameroon, yet H2H history isn’t on their side ahead of this latest meeting. Not only are the Scorpions ranked significantly lower in FIFA’s current world rankings (#126) than their opponents (#46), but they’ve also lost each of the last three clashes by an aggregate scoreline of 5-0 which will hardly help to increase their confidence levels ahead of kick-off.
Cameroon will hope that run will continue here as they’re also in a precarious position in Group D after their 1-1 draw with Guinea on matchday one was followed up by a 3-1 loss to Senegal, leaving them third with just a single point to their name. Realistically, they’ll know that this clash is a must-win if they’re to potentially automatically qualify or at least give themselves a chance of being one the best third-placed sides.
Few would have predicted pre-tournament that Rigobert Song's side would be left in this situation, especially given the fact that they finished third in the last edition of AFCON. However, the writing has been on the wall for some time now with Cameroon winning just one of their last seven matches (D3, L3), and their record of no victory from their previous five final group game fixtures at this competition will hardly lift spirits any further (D4, L1).
Key battle: Gambia goalkeeper Baboucarr Gaye was forced into five saves in the last game against Guinea and he could be busy again against Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi, who bagged a brace when these two sides last met at the quarter-final stage of this competition two years ago.
Hot stat: Cameroon’s defeat to Senegal was the first game across their last eight matches in which they conceded more than a single goal.