Ivory Coast vs Algeria Prediction & Betting Tips - AFCON

Prediction published on 17/01/2022, 12:30  by Joseph King | Modified on 17/01/2022 at 18:31 in AFCON Prediction

Defending champions Algeria have had a disastrous start to this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations and find themselves at the bottom of group E.  The Foxes suffered a shock 1-0 upset loss to Equatorial Guinea in the opener and were not able to right the ship in the second match as they were frustratingly held to a 0-0 draw to Sierra Leone. Algeria currently sit bottom of the group with just a single point to their name. However, all hope is not lost for the champions and they still hold the possibility of qualification to the group stages with a win against their opponents in this match. It will certainly not be an easy task as they come up against the group leaders in Ivory Coast who followed up their 1-0 opening win over Equatorial Guinea with a 2-2 draw against Sierra Leone to all but guarantee their progression to the knockouts with four points. This is a massive clash against two of Africa’s strongest sides with a lot on the line and promises to be a great match. 

Despite Ivory Coast leading the group, the Elephants haven’t been particularly impressive so far this tournament. They scraped a narrow win of Equatorial Guinea who arguably had the better chances and let up a late stoppage time equalizer to a weak Sierra Leone which they were heavily favored over. Algeria of course is in a slump at the moment, but the talent in this squad is undeniable. With well established European based talents like Mahrez, Feghouli, Brahimi and Atal, it’s clear to see why they are both the defending champions and why they were amongst the favorites to take the title again before the tournament started. Algeria had been in dominant form leading up to this year's AFCON and boasted a 25 match unbeaten streak spanning back two years. We expect Algeria to snap out of their funk in this one and ultimately their quality should shine through and get them into the next round, possibly as one of the four qualifying third place teams depending how the other fixture pans out.