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The Super Eagles of Nigeria will come face to face against their less-fancied side Burundi on Saturday in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations at 5:00 pm Ghana time

Nigeria will be aiming at starting their campaign with a win against debutants Burundi to make a statement that they in this edition of the AFCON for business, especially after missing out on the 2017 continent’s showpiece in Gabon and on the back of participating in the competition for the first time since winning it in 2013.

Team news and match facts

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Nigeria

There are no injury concerns in the camp of Nigeria ahead of this tie.

Nigeria has a very strong attacking line comprising Ahmed Musah, Alex Iwobi and Odion Ighalo.

Ighalo bagged seven goals during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and consequently emerged as the overall top scorer of the qualification campaign.

Nigeria placed the top of group E of the qualifiers with 12 points. They won four, drew one and lost one to force South Africa who amassed 12 points to the second spot.

Nigeria failed to win any of their two pre-AFCON preparation games: drew goalless against Zimbabwe and lost 1-0 to Senegal, so couldn’t score in two games, despite parading one of the best attacks in the competition.

This should be a major concern for German coach Gernot Rohr, entering into the tournament.

Nigeria are ranked 45th position in the world and 4th in Africa.

Burundi

Burundi
Burundi

They are making their debut in the competition. The last debutants to progress beyond the first round were Cape Verde, who qualified for the 2013 quarter-finals at the expense of Angola and Morocco before losing to Ghana.

Burundi were impressive during the qualifiers. They finished top of Gabon with 10 points and denied last edition’s host a place in the finals in Egypt.

The Swallows suffered a defeat for the first time in eight games against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in a 2-1 loss, which was the only game they played in their pre-AFCON preparation.

As for Burundi, Fiston Abdul Razak and Cedric Amissi are their biggest goal threats after scoring nine of their side’s 11 goals during qualifying.

Saido Berahino is arguably the most well-known player in the Swallows’ squad. The former Premier League attacker has the opportunity to make himself a hero for his country in what is his first major international tournament.

Burundi rated 134th in the latest FIFA ranking are one of the lowest rated teams in this year’s AFCON.

Head to head

Nigeria have played Burundi once in all competitions.

The Super Eagles defeated the Swallows of Burundi 2-0 in 1999 in the qualifiers of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations.

The return leg was cancelled because Nigeria and Ghana were later awarded the hosting rights, after Zimbabwe were stripped of hosting right for failing to meet certain deadlines.

Nigeria have played in 17 Africa Cup of Nations and they have won the competition on three occasions, whereas their opponent are appearing for the very first time.

DR Congo vs Uganda (2:30pm)

Team news and match facts

Uganda

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The East Africans are undefeated in both preparatory games for the Africa Cup of Nations. They drew goalless against Turkmenistan and beat Ivory Coast 1-0.

Uganda head coach Sebastien Desabre has no injury issues here.

He could opt for a 4-4-2 formation with Farouk Miya being the main man up front. The 21-year-old has 22 goals in 59 appearances for the Cranes.

Uganda have one of the best defences on the African continent, so it should be their asset heading into the finals. They conceded just three goals in the six qualifying games played.

The Cranes also have the best goalkeeper in Africa in Dennis Oyongo, who kept five clean sheets in six games during the qualifiers

His team’s strength, however, is in defence. They conceded just three goals in qualifying.

Uganda goalkeeper Denis Onyango kept five cleans sheets in the six games he played in qualifying.

Uganda are 80th on the World FIFA ranking and 16th in Africa.

DR Congo

DR Congo
DR Congo

DR headed into this AFCON with a talented side with the majority of their players being home-grown ones- playing for domestic sides such as TP Mazembe and AS Vita.

Cedric Bakamba, despite missing a penalty in DR Congo’s final AFCON warm-up match against Kenya, is expected to lead the attack.

He will receive support from the talented trio of Tresor Mputu, Yannick Bolasie and M’Poku.

They have been tipped to progress from group A alongside hosts Egypt.

However, they have endured a difficult pre-AFCON preparation, failing to win any of their two games: drew goalless against Burkina Faso, before they settled for a one all against Kenya.

DR Congo are 49th in the world, but 5th in Africa

Head to head

They have cashed 12 times in all competitions.

DR Congo have dominated the meetings with seven wins, four defeats and one draw against Uganda.

This is going to be their first encounter in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Red Devils of Congo have participated in the continental showpiece for 18 times and emerged as champions on two occasions, whereas Uganda have featured on six occasions. The best finish for Cranes is runners-up in 1978.

Guinea vs Madagascar (8:00pm)

The Syli Nationale of Guinea, who were runners-up in the Africa Cup of Nations to have the better part of debutants Madagascar when they face off in their opening group B game

Team news and match facts

Guinea

Guinea-national-football-team
Guinea-national-football-team

While Keita is undoubtedly Guinea’s star man, Francois Kamano heads to Egypt on the back of a strong season with Bordeaux, having scored 10 goals from 37 Ligue 1 appearances in 2018-19, and will provide a real threat from the flanks.

Guinea didn’t have the best of results in the pre-AFCON preparation. They lost two of their three games: lost against Gambia and Egypt, while they edged Benin.

Guinea who are playing in their 12 AFCON are the second team with most appearances, without having previously won the competition after Senegal who have made it to the competition on 15 occasions.

Guinea have suffered elimination at the quarter-final stage in four of their last five AFCON participation.

Guinea boss Paul Put is making his third appearance at an AFCON after leading Burkina Faso in 2013 (beaten finalist) and 2015 (group stages).

Madagascar

Madagascar
Madagascar

French-born Lyon defender Jeremy Morel took the decision to play for Madagascar – the birthplace of his father – in 2018, and made his debut in November. He will provide some much-needed, top-level experience to the squad.

They were runners-up in group A of the qualifiers which had Senegal, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.

The Barea of Madagascar failed to win any of their three warm-up games, losing two and drawing one in the process: They drew against Luxemburg and lost against fellow Africans Kenya and Mauritania.

Madagascar are one of three teams making their AFCON debut at this year’s tournament, alongside Burundi and Mauritania.

Head to head

The debutants and the 11 times AFCON participants have faced off twice.

Their two meetings came in 2011 during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. The first leg in Madagascar ended in a draw and Guinea won the reverse fixture 4-1.

Guinea are 71st in the world, while Madagascar are 108th on the FIFA ranking

Total: 2

Wins for Guinea= 1

Wins for Madagascar: 0

Draws: 1

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