Angola and Burkina Faso round off their Africa Cup of Nations group-stage campaign with a meeting at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium on Tuesday.
Having both all but guaranteed themselves a place in the knockout phase, the teams now set out to finish as group winners by coming out on top here.
Angola claimed a thrilling 3-2 victory over Al-Murabitun of Mauritania when the sides went head-to-head at Stade de la Paix on Saturday evening.
Pedro Goncalves‘s men took the lead right on the half-hour mark through Gelson Dala but were pegged back by Sidi Bouna Amar before a quickfire from Dala and Gilberto decided the game, rendering Aboubakary Koita‘s strike inconsequential.
Consequently, the Black Sable antelopes have moved up to first place in Group D, level on points with Burkina Faso ahead of the meeting in Yamoussoukro.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit with little to pick between the teams over the previous six meetings which have yielded two wins apiece and two draws.
Now without defeat in their last eight matches, Angola will be confident of picking up a positive result to keep their strong AFCON display going.
Burkina Faso played out a thrilling 2-2 share of the spoils against the Fennec Foxes of Algeria in Saturday’s encounter at Stade de la Paix.
Hubert Velud‘s men led 1-0 and 2-1 thanks to strikes from Mohamed Konate and Bertrand Traore but were pegged back on both occasions by Baghdad Bounedjah.
With four points from their two AFCON matches so far, Les Etalons are behind their next opponents only on goal difference at the top of what remains an open group.
Unbeaten in seven of their last eight outings across all competitions, Burkina Faso have proven themselves to be a tough nut to crack of late.
Adama Guira is a doubt for Burkina Faso here having come off with an injury scare in the first half of the draw against Algeria last time out.
Bertrand Traore has found the back of the net in consecutive matches as a substitute and could be rewarded with a place in the starting XI here.
Angola’s Gelson Dala has found the back of the net six times in his last six games for club and country, making the forward one to keep an eye on here.
Following his double against Mauritania, Dala has now scored the most goals of any active player for his nation and the sixth-most in history.
Angola possible starting lineup:
Neblu; Fortuna, Buatu, Gaspar, Afonso; Show, Fredy; Dala, Zini, Gilberto; Mabululu
Burkina Faso possible starting lineup:
Koffi; Yago, Tapsoba, Dayo, Nagalo; Ouedraogo, Toure; Tapsoba, Sangare, Traore; Konate
Both Angola and Burkina Faso have given a good account of themselves over the opening two matches and will be full of confidence heading into this one. We are backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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