Africa Cup of Nations: Ruthless Algeria Set Sights on Ivory Coast

Algeria vs Ivory Coast

All eyes will be on the Suez Stadium on Thursday for the big match, Africa Cup of Nations Algeria vs Ivory Coast, where a place in the 2019 semi-final is the prize.

This is a clash between two of the more fancied sides though the Algerians have better momentum. Head coach Djamel Belmadi has put together a side which is hard to break down, but with a rapier-like cutting edge. The Desert Foxes flew through the group stages and Round of 16, sweeping away all before them and scoring nine unanswered goals.

The Ivory Coast, under the guidance of Ibrahima Kamara, hasn’t been quite so impressive, but they too possess a serious attacking threat.

The Algeria vs Ivory Coast highlights are certain to feature two leading lights of the Premier League, with Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez skippering the Desert Foxes, and Arsenal target Wilfried Zaha leading the line for Les Elephants.

Either can be a match-winner on his day and both will be desperate to fire his team to glory.

Talking Points

Algeria’s trophy charge

With Egypt suffering a shock exit at the hands of South Africa, Algeria and Senegal have emerged as favourites to win AFCON 2019; and the way the Desert Foxes have dominated all four opponents so far might even make them the most likely champions.

Top scorer Adam Ounas has three goals, but it is Riyad Mahrez with two, who has lit up the competition with his mercurial skills and electrifying turn of pace. The attacking midfielder has made a good start to life at the Etihad after a glittering four seasons at Leicester City, and he has carried his domestic form into this competition, scoring a beauty in the Round-of-16 victory over Guinea. He has praised his team’s ability to score at the important moments, saying: “I think we did a solid match against a good Guinea team, it wasn’t easy, we didn’t concede, we scored three. It was a good night for us. We’re serious – we scored in the key moments, we took our chances, and when you don’t concede a goal you have a chance.”

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2019 Africa Cup of Nations

The Desert Foxes have other attacking talents to support their main man. Youcef Belaili was also on target in the win over Guinea, and centre forward Baghdad Bounedjah is a physical threat who knows where the goal is. He scored a record 39 goals in his domestic season in the Qatar league.

Algeria has an irresistible combination of pace, power and skill and that will be hard for anyone to cope with.

The Ivory Coast relies on Zaha magic

In contrast, the hopes of the Ivory Coast rest largely on the form of one of their strikers. The Elephants had a testing Round-of-16 clash to come through against neighbours Mali, and Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha was the man on hand to score the winner.

That was Zaha’s second goal of the tournament, but it was against the run of play as Mali had 60 per cent possession and won the shot count by 18 to seven. They did beat Namibia 4-1 in their final Group D game but, that apart, they have been unconvincing.

Africa Cup of Nations: Can Ivory Coast defeat Algeria? — Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Zaha celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal against Namibia

History

The Ivory Coast has a fine heritage in this competition though and was champion in both 1992 and 2015. Les Elephants put Algeria out of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-1 win thanks to two goals from Wilfried Bony. But they are likely to come up against sterner resistance on Thursday.

Success for Algeria is a little overdue. The Golden Generation of the Desert Foxes was between 1980 and 1990 when they famously beat World Champions West Germany in the opening game at the 1982 World Cup. In 1990 Algeria hosted the Africa Cup of Nations and beat the Ivory Coast 3-0 on the way to winning the final, in front of 105,000 delirious fans at the Stade 5 Juillet.

How they would love a return to those heady days, and the current crop, unbeaten in ten games and on a winning run of five are beginning to look like they can deliver.

But the Ivory Coast has won four from five and the very latest Algeria vs Ivory Coast betting odds right here at SBOBET tell us all three possible results are in play.

Betting Tip

	Algeria vs Ivory Coast	Algeria 1X2 @ 2.12
	July 12, 00:00 (GMT+8)

The draw is at odds of 3.00 and Ivory Coast at 3.10 to win this game, but at 2.15 the Desert Foxes look like the best value to me.

They have a ruthless streak and an array of attacking threats, while the Ivory Coast squad looks a little thinner, and that’s why I’m backing Algeria.