Preview: Burkina Faso vs. Malawi - prediction, team news, lineups

Burkina Faso host Malawi on Sunday when the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers continue, and both teams will be looking for a win after their opening results.

The hosts drew their first match in dramatic fashion, while the visitors will be looking to bounce back after a surprise defeat at home.

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Match preview

Burkina Faso come into Sunday's game after a 1-1 draw away to Senegal in their opening game of AFCON qualifying.

Ousseni Bouda shocked the Senegalese with a last-gasp equaliser, as the forward cancelled out Sadio Mane's early opener and handed Burkina Faso a strong start to their qualification hopes.

While this was a great result for the Stallions, they are now winless in their last eight games in all competitions, with this barren spell stretching all the way back to January.

It is a surprising run considering that among their side are some noteworthy players who ply their trade in Europe; with the likes of defensive duo Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen and Issa Kabore of Benfica complementing a forward line that includes Bournemouth's Dango Ouattara and Ajax's Bertrand Traore.

In terms of their World Cup qualifiers, Burkina Faso sit in third and are five points behind table-toppers Egypt, but they are crucially only one point behind Guinea-Bissau who occupy second.

Malawi meanwhile will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Burundi on Thursday.

In a game dominated by Malawi, goals from Chawanangwa Kaonga and Lanjesi Nkhoma were not enough to get their first points on the board, as a Chimwemwe Idana own goal and strikes from Jean Claude Girumugisha and Mokono Eldhino resigned Patrick Mabedi's side to an opening-game defeat.

The result means that Malawi have now only won one of their last six games in all competitions, with that win being a 3-1 victory over Sao Tome and Principe back in June.

This lack of form also leaves Malawi fourth after four games in their World Cup qualification group, and it will be an uphill task for Mabedi if he is to guide his side above any one of Tunisia, Namibia or Liberia in their quest for 2026's showcase tournament.

Mabedi took over as head coach in 2023 having spent the three years prior to this as the Malawi Under-20 head coach, with many of his roles before this being as an assistant manager for various club teams across South Africa.

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Team News

Burkina Faso have a strong defensive and midfield spine that is likely to be unchanged, with Trova Boni and Sacha Banse being tasked with a disciplined role in the middle of the park.

Elsewhere, Ouattara and Hassane Bande will be hoping to keep their place in attack and support Lassina Traore, who could lead the line in place of Mohamed Konate.

For Malawi, Gomezgani Chirwa's return at left-back in their last outing was a welcome one, and the Flames now have a fully-fit squad to pick from here.

John Banda, Maxwell Paipi and Robert Saizi will be pushing for starts, although it would be a surprise if Mabedi made too many changes to a side that did play well in their defeat at home to Burundi.

Burkina Faso possible starting lineup: Koffi; Kabore, Djiga, Tapsoba, Yago; Boni, Banse, Badolo; Ouattara, Bande, Traore

Malawi possible starting lineup: Chikooka; Sanudi, Mwase, Chembezi, Chirwa; Chester, Idana, Aaron, Nkhoma; Kaonga, Mphasi

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We say: Burkina Faso 2-1 Malawi

While Malawi can consider themselves somewhat unlucky to have not at least come away from their opening game with a point, Burkina Faso will be buoyed by their last-gasp equaliser against Senegal, and on home soil they should narrowly squeeze past the visitors here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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