Gabon vs Burkina Faso
African Cup of Nations – Group A
Date: Wednesday, 18th, January 2017.
Kick-off: 16:00 GMT / 17:00 CET
Venue: Stade D’Angondjé, Libreville.
Gabon’s dreams of lifting the African Cup of Nations in front of the home crowd were dealt a blow on Saturday as they failed to win their group opener against tournament debutants Guinea-Bissau.
Star player and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played his role with a second half opener, but the defence couldn’t keep the underdogs at bay, eventually conceding a 90th minute equaliser. Fortunately for Gabon the clash between Burkina Faso and Cameroon ended 1-1 too, leaving the group wide open with two games left to play.
Burkina Faso performed admirably against Cameroon as they look to recreate the success they achieved in 2013, when they earned the runners up medal against all the odds. The players may have performed well to earn a draw, but the first half was a shambles as the confused players struggled to get to grip with manager Paulo Duarte’s tactics. The second half was a vast improvement though, so we can expect them to perform similarly as they did in the second half when they face Gabon.
The hosts’ failure to win on Saturday made it four draws on the bounce for them and five without a victory. Admittedly only a couple of these have been competitive matches, but they need to find their feet quickly if they are to go far in this competition.
Burkina Faso’s draw made it one win, two draws, and two defeats in their last five matches. However, their positive results have come against largely weaker teams than Gabon and defeats to Morocco and Mali show that they can definitely be vulnerable when facing quality opposition.
The Gabon squad on a whole isn’t rife with raw talent, but the presence of captain Aubameyang should be enough to get them the three points. The Borussia Dortmund star has now scored 22 goals in 24 appearances for club and country this season following his tournament opener on Saturday. At 11/10 to score anytime he looks a fantastic choice for our main match predictions, especially since Burkina Faso have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven outings. Alongside this I’m going for a 2-1 win for Gabon at 8/1 for our correct score predictions.
Gabon: Predicted Line-Up (4-2-3-1)
Ovono – Obiang, Biyogho Poko, Appidangoye, Ecuele Manga- Evouna, Lemina – Palun, Bouanga, Ndong -Aubameyang.
Burkina Faso: Predicted Line-Up (4-2-3-1)
Kouakou: Coulibaly, Kone, Malo, Dayo- Traore, Pitriopa- Traore, Zongo, Kabore: Nakoulma
Gabon vs Burkina Faso: Head to Head Statistics
Both sides will be facing each other for the 2nd consecutive time in the Africa Cup Of Nation. This two sides met at the group stage of the 2015 AFCON in equatorial guinea; Gabon scored one goal in each half to enjoy a 2-0 win over the stallion in that edition.
Moreover, Burkina Faso have failed to defeat Gabon in the last 3 games related to Africa Cup of nations; 2 of this 3 games were in the Africa Cup of nation qualifiers, while the last one in the Africa cup of nations proper.
Gabon vs Guinea Bissau: Prediction
Gabon and Burkina Faso are two decently experience side when we talk about the big one in Africa. Though they shared points in their first game of the championship, the stallions, and the panthers gave good account of themselves with better ball possession and hunger for victory. Gabon and Guinea could however extend or rewrite head-to-head history as both sides have had unbalanced share of each other in the competition.
Therefore, this promises to be an action packed games with a lot of fireworks, fans hopes, and even goals. However, I will predict a 2-1 win for Burkina Faso.
Gabon vs Burkina Faso: Bet Tips
Gabon to win at 2.15 (8/7)
Correct Full-Time Score: 2-1 in favour of Gabon at 10.00 (9/1).
