D.R. Congo vs Benin prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2025-12-22 12:30.
[p]Group D of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) gets underway with a clash of “big cats” as the Leopards of DR Congo try to outdo the Cheetahs of Benin.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]DR Congo finished fourth in the previous edition of this tournament and they enter this one on the back of five straight victories, a run that included impressive wins over Cameroon and Nigeria to reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup inter-confederation qualifying play-offs. The Leopards won this tournament in 1968 and 1974 – only five teams have won it more often – and are reaping the benefits of managerial stability, as SĂ©bastien Desabre prepares to lead them into a second AFCON finals after guiding them to wins in each of their last five games on foreign soil.[/p]
[p]This will be just Benin’s fifth appearance at the finals and they’ve only once got past the group stages, in 2019, so expectations will be low for Gernot Rohr’s side, especially after losing their last two games while conceding 3+ goals and failing to score! The Cheetahs have never won an AFCON game inside 90 minutes (D5, L9) and they’ve found goals hard to come by having only scored once across the last four of those fixtures. That’s been a recurring theme as only once since drawing 2-2 with Zimbabwe in March have they netted 2+ goals in any international (W3, L4).[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]DR Congo are unbeaten across two previous H2Hs (W1, D1), with both of those World Cup qualifiers in 2021 producing exactly two goals.[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Each of DR Congo’s last five matches produced under 2.5 goals.[/p]
[p]Three of DR Congo’s last four fixtures witnessed a goal between the 20th and 35th minute.[/p]
[p]The side scoring first won each of Benin’s last seven fixtures without conceding.[/p]
[p]Each of Benin’s last three games produced a goal after the 75th minute.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Arthur Masuaku opened the scoring for DR Congo against Zambia in their most recent fixture (W 2-0) and his country are unbeaten in all four of his goalscoring appearances, including one at AFCON 2023 (W3, D1). Benin forward Aiyegun Tosin has also scored four international goals, three of which came in matches featuring at least three goals.[/p]
[p]Mario Stroeykens was a late withdrawal from DR Congo’s squad after suffering a knee injury and will miss the tournament, while Benin don’t appear to have any major concerns.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]DR Congo look to have the experience and the form to see off Benin here, and given the latter’s problems in front of goal, our tip is to back DR Congo to win with a clean sheet.[/p]
[p][i]Author: John Pennington[/i][/p]