Nigeria v Burkina Faso: Super Eagles won’t have easy ride
Published:Nigeria head into the final of the African Cup of Nations as the clear favourites this Sunday – but don’t go expecting a walk over for the Super Eagles.
Nigeria haven’t won the tournament since their Golden Generation of 1994 and have lost in the final on four separate occasions, winning it just twice.
They are priced at 1/1 to get the victory in 90 minutes and, while that certainly looks a tempting punt, you shouldn’t rule out the underdogs.
Burkina Faso have made it to the final thanks to a solid defence that shipped just one goal in their three group games and one in their two knockout games so far.
They held Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in their group, although it took a last minute equaliser after the Super Eagles were reduced to ten men on 74 minutes.
Burkina Faso are currently available at 11/4 to win their first African Cup of Nations title but, with Nigeria on a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions, that may be slightly beyond the outsiders.
A better bet may be to back the game to finish level after 90 minutes at 21/10.
Four of the last seven African Cup of Nations finals have needed penalties to separate the teams and goals have proved a hard commodity to come by in the showpiece in recent years.
In the past six years there have been three goalless draws and only one of the games has yielded over 2.5 goals.
Backing this clash to be another tight affair with under 2.5 goals scored looks the most tempting of the goal bets at 4/9, while a repeat of their 1-1 draw earlier in the tournament can be backed at 5/1.
ODDS CORRECT AT TIME OF PUBLICATION
