African Nations Cup: Ivory Coast poised for easy progress
Published:The African Nations Cup enters the knockout stages today and there promises to be little in the way of shocks.
Zambia face Sudan while pre-tournament favourites Ivory Coast face an Equatorial Guinea side who qualified from Group A ahead of Libya and Senegal.
There are still plenty of bets well worth taking on though…
Ivory Coast v Equatorial Guinea
Ivory Coast coach Francois Zahoui will welcome back a host of first team players after resting nine of them for their final group game – a game they won to keep up their 100 per cent record so far in the tournament.
Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Gervinho and Didier Zokora will be back and they should have more than enough between them to see off the underdogs.
The Ivory Coast have not lost for 12 games and face an Equatorial Guinea side who lost their last game 1-0 against Zambia.
Backing Ivory Coast at 2/5 looks like the only match bet worth taking on but there are plenty of other markets available to take advantage of.
The Ivory Coast have not conceded a goal in their previous five games and have only failed to score in one of their previous 24 matches.
Backing the favourites to keep a clean sheet looks well worth a punt at 8/13.
Zambia v Sudan
Group A winners Zambia head into this game undefeated and favourites to get the win at 4/5.
It’s not surprising really as Sudan made it to the knockout stages with just one win in their three group games.
With Sudan winning just one of their previous eight matches, backing Zambia for the win looks like the best way to cash in.
