In the 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifiers, Nigeria plays Guinea-Bissau on Friday (March 24) at the Abuja National Stadium. With a 2-1 victory over Sierra Leone, the hosts concluded their qualification campaign. Victor Osimhen and Alex Iwobi scored to overcome an early deficit. In their subsequent match, they defeated Sao Tome and Principe by a score of 10-0, scoring seven of those goals in an aggressive second half. With six of the possible six points, Nigeria leads Group A.
In contrast, Guinea-Bissau opened their AFCON qualifiers by defeating Sao Tomé and Principe 5-1 at the Adrar Stadium in June of last year. Following Sana Gomes’s dismissal in the second half, they were held to a 2-2 draw by Sierra Leone in their subsequent match. The visitors have been to the last three AFCONs and qualified.
Prediction
Under manager Jose Peseiro, Nigeria have lost four of their last five games and won just two. However, they are more powerful than the visitors, and they ought to win.
In contrast, Guinea-Bissau is winless in three games and has only won one of their last 11 competitive games. They might lose here after struggling recently on the road.
Prediction: Nigeria beat Guinea Bissau 2-0.
Head-to-Head
Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau will meet for the second time on Friday.
The Super Eagles won the first meeting between the two teams last year, 2-0, in the group stage of the African Cup of Nations.
In their last five competition-related away games, Guinea-Bissau has not won.
In their last four games, the Super Eagles have not kept a clean sheet.
After two matches, the hosts have scored 12 goals, making them the highest-scoring team in the AFCON qualifiers.
The Djurtus are ranked 118th in FIFA, 83 places lower than their opponents this weekend.
Team News
After scoring two against Sierra Leone, Jorginho continues to climb the all-time scoring charts with five international goals for Guinea-Bissau.
After scoring his first goal for the away team, the 25-year-old Jardel will be vying for a spot in the starting lineup for this match.
Victor Sochima and Kingsley Aniagboso have both been called up to the Nigerian national team for the first time, but neither is expected to take Francis Uzoho’s place as goalkeeper.
Terem Moffi and Victor Osimhen will team up as two strikers to lead the hosts’ attack, making him arguably the most sought-after player in European football right now.
Osimhen, who has represented his nation multiple times, currently ranks 10th in the highest scoring charts and has the highest goal-to-game ratio of any player in the top 10.
Lineup
Nigeria
- Uzoho
- Sanusi, Bassey, Ajayi, Osayi-Samuel
- Iwobi, Ndidi, Aribo, Lookman
- Osimhen, Moffi
Guinea-Bissau
- Mendes
- Mane, Nanu, Cande, Nogueira
- Cassama, Semedo, Rodrigues
- Piqueti, Jorginho, Gano
Betting Tips
Result: Nigeria
Objectives – Over/under 2.5 – Under 2.5 objectives (Seven of the guests’ last nine games have created less than 2.5 objectives.)
To score by both teams: No, as neither team has scored in any of the hosts’ last five games.