The first semi-final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will take place at 30 June Stadium in Cairo on Sunday, when Senegal will battle Tunisia for a place in the final. The two sides have last met in the group stage of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal won that match 2-0 but both teams qualified to the next round at the time. That was the first victory for Senegal over Tunisia after ten matches, a streak that had started all the way back in 1995. Overall, Tunisia have won 9 times against Senegal in all competitions, while Senegal collected just 4 victories.
Senegal had an almost flawless route to the semi-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations, they conceded just one goal in their five matches at the tournament so far and that goal led to their only defeat, 1-0 against Algeria in the group stage. In the first knockout round they edged past Uganda with a 1-0 victory and in the quarter-finals they grabbed an identical result against Benin thanks to a second-half goal from Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye. Head coach Aliou Cisse doesn't have any fresh injury concerns ahead of this match as first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy remains out of contention.
Tunisia didn't produce very convincing performances up to the quarter-finals, they qualified from the group stage without winning any of the three matches and then edged past Ghana in a penalty shoot-out. Things changed in the quarter-finals, Tunisia faced Madagascar, the biggest surprise of the tournament, and they secured a comfortable 3-0 victory. Ferjani Sassi, Youssef Msakni and Naim Sliti provided the goals, all of them in the second half. Wahbi Khazri recovered from a thigh problem to play against Madagascar and he will be available for selection again for the semi-final match.
Probable line-ups:
Senegal: Gomis - Gassama, Kouyate, Koulibaly, Sabaly - Saivet, Ndiaye, Gueye - Mane, Niang, Keita
Tunisia: Hassen - Kechrida, Bronn, Meriah, Haddadi - Chaalali, Skhiri, Sassi - Khazri, Khenissi, Msakni
My prediction:
Senegal have the better players and they will most likely dominate the match, but Tunisia will be very tough to break down. However, I think Senegal's superior quality will pay off eventually, I expect Senegal to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Senegal win - 2.05
Draw - 3.10
Tunisia win - 4.00
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Comments (1)
sharpe
07/16/19, 05:07:51 PM
That's been a tough win for Senegal in a scrappy game really, some controversial ref decisions too but in the end the top dog has make it to the final when they...
That's been a tough win for Senegal in a scrappy game really, some controversial ref decisions too but in the end the top dog has make it to the final when they will face the other tournament favorites in the face of Algeria. For me the Algerians play a better style than Senegal so if I have to pick one I'd take the Northern African team's side in the final but it still have to be a close and probably a not too entertaining game...but let's see.
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