African Cup of Nations: Ivory Coast to roll into semi-finals

The final two places in the African Cup of Nations semi final are up for grabs in the latest instalment of action from South Africa and we’ve sounded out the best ways to make some money on the last quarter final night.

Nigeria v Ivory Coast

The Super Eagles have struggled to stamp any of the authority that being one of the elite sides on the African continent should bring about and, as a result, have to face tournament favourites Ivory Coast earlier than anticipated. At 10/11, the Ivorians are phenomenally priced as, unlike their West African rivals, they have lived up to all their pre-tournament billing and come into this game on a roll.

Nigeria can be backed as long as 10/3, but this is better to be left alone. The 11/5 offering for there to be exactly two goals in this clash, however, could be worth a punt; it’s been the total number scored in each of the Nigerians’ games thus far.

For this trend to continue, though, another must come to an end. All of the Ivory Coast’s outings have yielded over 2.5 goals which could tempt people to invest some of their hard-earned on the 6/4 that says it’ll happen again.

Some common ground shared by both of these teams is that the second half of their games is when the goals have gone in. Seven of the 10 goals that have been scored for or against the Elephants have come in the second 45, while five of the six involving Nigeria have gone the same way. A price of 1/1 is on offer for more goals in the second half than the first again here and it looks the safest bet of the lot.

Burkina Faso v Togo

One of these two footballing minnows will find themselves in the last-four of a major international tournament come the close of play and, with Burkina on a seven-match unbeaten streak, you’ve got to favour their 17/10 for victory.
The bookies can’t decide who stands the better chance of winning here, pricing Togo up identically, with the draw a little less likely 2/1 shot.

With these two so tough to separate, a punt on a Burkina Faso clean sheet might well be the way to go here. It pays at 13/8, but with five shut outs in six and only one goal conceded in that time, there’s a case to argue that these odds should be shorter. The value of this bet is exemplified through the fact that Togo are the same price to achieve the feat, despite keeping one clean sheet in their previous five.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date