African Cup of Nations Preview Wed 23rd

Two games played no goals scored it was not exactly an explosive start to Group A in the African Cup of Nations. Viewers will be hoping for more goalmouth action when it resumes on Wednesday.

Before we talk about the games let us have a quick look at the outright markets where South Africa are still the 11/8 (Coral) favourites to finish top in Group A. Morocco are 9/4 (ladbrokes) chances while Angola are 6/1 (Blue Sq/888 Sport) and Cape Verde are 8/1 (general) shots.

South Africa take on Angola in the opening match of the day with the hosts the 5/4 (general) favourites to claim all three points while Angola are 3/1 (BetVictor) and the draw is 36/17 (pinnacle). I think at these prices Angola must be the bet and you can get them at 8/11 (BetVictor) on the Asian Handicap. This will pay out if the game ends in an Angola win or a draw. I was unimpressed by South Africa in the first game they struggled to create any chances against Cape Verde and found themselves restricted to a lot of long range efforts. How they must have longed for the creative presence of Steven Pienaar who instead was at Southampton for a Premier League game with Everton. Though Angola also drew their game with Morocco 0-0 both sides created chances and carried much more of a goal threat.

Those looking for a first goalscorer bet will see the market is headed by Katiego Mphela who is 11/2 (boylesports/Coral/william hill) while Angola striker Manucho is 13/2 (bet365/boylesports/william hill) and Bernard Parker is 7/1 (boylesports/William Hill). I would recommend a little interest in Angola player Guilherme Afonso or Afonso Guilherme as he is listed on the bet365 website. It is them who are best priced 11/1 on him to score first or 4/1 in the anytime market. I would expect the player to start after the effect he had in game one following his half-time introduction.

Also in Group A Morocco take on Cape Verde with Morocco the 20/21 (Blue Sq/Stan James/888 Sport) favourites while the draw is available at 12/5 (Blue Sq/888 Sport) and a Cape Verde victory is a best priced 23/6 (pinnacle).Those who like to follow the FIFA Rankings will be interested to note that Cape Verde are actually ranked four places higher than Morocco.A lot could depend on how fit influential playmaker Younes Belhanda is for Morocco as he is the class act in this game though he looked a little off the pace fitness wise last time out. As such I think I will swerve the outright markets in this game. The first goalscorer market is headed by a number of Moroccan players with Mounir El Hamdaoui a 5/1 (general) chance, Yousef El Arabi is a 6/1 (general) chance while Nordin Amrabat is 13/2 (Boylesports/William Hill).

Those looking for a Cape Verde goalscorer can get decent odds on Luis Soares Platini at 20/1 (bet365) to grab the opener or 8/1 (bet365) to score anytime. The player is not quite the combination of Luis Suarez and Michel Platini that his name might suggest however he did find himself with the best chance of the game against South Africa. At these prices it is worth chancing that he takes any opportunity presented to him much better this time around.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Angola v South Africa +0.5 on the Asian Handicap, 8/11 (Bet Victor)
SILVER: Afonso Guilherme to score v South Africa, first 11/1 (bet365), anytime 4/1 (Bet365).
BRONZE: Luis Soares Platini to score v Morocco, First 20/1 (Bet365), Anytime 8/1 (Bet365).

Go To bet365

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23/01/2013     © Frixo 2024