Africa Cup of Nations: Egypt Brace for Battle with Bafana Bafana

Egypt vs South Africa

Egypt are showing everyone exactly why they were considered major Africa Cup of Nations favourites heading into the tournament.

With superstar forward Mohamed Salah leading the way, the hosts were relatively untroubled as they breezed past the group stage with a perfect record of three wins in three matches.

They will now head to the round of 16 to face a South Africa side which just made it to the knockout stage as the fourth-ranked third-placed team.

The Africa Cup of Nations 2019 betting odds have Egypt as significant favourites to move on to the quarter-final, where they would face the winner of Nigeria and Cameroon.

However, Bafana Bafana have proven to be quite competitive in this year’s tournament and will look to give the Pharaohs their toughest test to date.

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2019 Africa Cup of Nations

Talking Points

Egypt making it look easy

Egypt didn’t seem to be at their absolute best during the group stage. They didn’t win by more than two goals despite being significantly better than their opposition. And they were particularly unconvincing in their final group match against Uganda, who were the better side for long periods of the match.

But that makes it even more impressive that they were able to go through the group stage undefeated and didn’t even concede a single goal. They were that much better than their competition that they could coast for most of the match and produce just enough moments of quality to get the win.

Mohamed Salah produced a couple of those moments of brilliance. The Liverpool star scored in their 2-0 win over DR Congo and supplied a sumptuous free-kick against Uganda, which is up their among the top Africa Cup of Nation 2019 highlights to date.

Salah appears to be in fine form in this year’s tournament, which is promising for the hosts since he’s more than capable of carrying the Egyptian attack by himself if needed.

Meanwhile, the defence remains impressive. While they have given up more shots than expected against inferior opposition, they have yet to be truly tested on that end of the pitch.

And given the less-than-stellar weapons South Africa have at their disposal, it would be a surprise if Egypt don’t extend their streak of consecutive clean sheets.

South Africa showing lots of fight

South Africa gave quite a good account of themselves during the group stage. They defeated the one team they were supposed to beat (Namibia) and suffered narrow 1-0 defeats to Ivory Coast and Morocco, who were the better sides.

South Africa reached the knock out stages after winning only one and losing two group names in Africa Cup of Nations — South Africa coach Stuart Baxter giving instructions on the touchline

They could have even taken a point off of Morocco, but they instead suffered a heart-breaking defeat as Moubarak Boussoufa scored a 90th-minute winner.

Manager Stuart Baxter has formed quite a strong defensive unit one that hasn’t conceded more than one goal in a single game since the World Cup qualifiers in late 2017. What the team lacks in individual talent, they have made up for in discipline, hard work, and organisation.

They kept the talented attackers of Morocco and Ivory Coast quiet for the most part, and there’s no reason they can’t do the same against Salah.

But given their lack of outstanding quality up front, it remains to be seen whether the South African attack can effectively penetrate the Pharaohs’ rock-solid defence.

History

Egypt and South Africa have met each other 11 times in total. South Africa hold the edge with six wins to Egypt’s four.

The two teams have not faced each other in the Africa Cup of Nations since they met in the final back in 1998. Egypt prevailed in that matchup, 2-0.

They last met in an international friendly in Johannesburg back in 2016, with South Africa coming out on top, 1-0.

Betting Tip

	Egypt vs South Africa	Egypt Asian Handicap -1.00 @ 2.09
	July 07, 03:00 (GMT+8)

SBOBET odds have Egypt as pretty significant favourites at 1.57 to win on the 1X2 market. South Africa are 5.60, with the draw at 3.25.

It would be quite a surprise if Egypt don’t beat Bafana Bafana in this relatively easy round-of-16 matchup. And since the 1X2 odds don’t offer much value, it’s time to turn to the Asian Handicap.

Egypt won by two goals in their last two matches and are very capable of doing the same against South Africa. The Pharaohs still have another gear they can get to after being in cruise control for virtually the entire group stage. So while the South Africans kept it close against Morocco and Ivory Coast, Egypt may just be a different class.