Senegal vs Botswana prediction: AFRICA: Africa Cup of Nations betting tips on match 2025-12-22 15:00.
[p]The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winners of 2021, Senegal, get their quest for glory underway against a Botswana side who have qualified for the tournament for just the second time.[/p]
[p]Match News and Current Form[/p]
[p]Senegal head into AFCON on the back of their biggest-ever win, thrashing Kenya 8-0 in their final warm-up game for the tournament. That was a sixth win in seven internationals (L1) for the Lions of Teranga, keeping four clean sheets in the process, and with that run helping them qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Senegal come into this tournament with huge momentum behind them. Pape Thiaw’s side will fancy their chances of another victory here too, as they are unbeaten inside 90 minutes at AFCON since the 2019 final (W7, D4) and have won their opening group game at the last five AFCON editions, doing so to nil on four occasions.[/p]
[p]Botswana don’t have much AFCON pedigree behind them, and what they do have hardly makes for positive reading, having lost each of their three games in their only previous competition appearance in 2012. They also head to Morocco in miserable form, losing four of their last five matches (D1), most recently a 2-1 friendly defeat to Tunisia less than a week ago. Head coach Morena Ramoreboli has vowed that his team will “compete fiercely” as they attempt to make history, but he will be more than a little concerned that the Zebras – whose squad contains only five players who ply their trade outside of Botswana – have not won over 90 minutes since March (D4, L4).[/p]
[p]Head-to-Head History[/p]
[p]These two teams have met twice before, back in 2014, with Senegal winning both matches without conceding.[/p]
[p]Hot Stats and Streaks[/p]
[p]Four of Senegal’s last five internationals have featured over 3.5 goals.[/p]
[p]Only one of Senegal’s last nine AFCON group games saw both teams score.[/p]
[p]Botswana haven’t scored a second-half goal in their last four competitive internationals.[/p]
[p]Botswana have conceded 2+ goals in four of their last five matches.[/p]
[p]Key Players to Watch and Missing Players[/p]
[p]Sadio Mané has never lost a Senegal game in which he has scored (W37, D5) and netted his last six international goals before the hour mark. Botswana forward Thabang Sesinyi, who is the all-time top marksman in the Botswana Premier League, has seen his last three international goals serve as the first of the game.[/p]
[p]Senegal’s Assane Diao has withdrawn from the tournament. Botswana don’t appear to have any injury worries.[/p]
[p]For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.[/p]
[p]Betting Analysis[/p]
[p]With history firmly against Botswana here, backing Senegal to win to nil could be a wise selection here.[/p]
[p][i]Author: Matt Jones[/i][/p]