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Cape Verde national football team
World Cup Qualifying - Africa | Second Round
Sep 7, 2021 at 5pm UK
 
Nigeria national football team

Cape Verde
1 - 2
Nigeria

Tavares (19')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Osimhen (30'), Rocha Santos (76' og.)
Okoye (87'), Omeruo (90+2')

Preview: Cape Verde vs. Nigeria - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's World Cup Qualifying - Africa clash between Cape Verde and Nigeria, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Nigeria travel to the Stadium Aderito Sena on Tuesday for their meeting with Cape Verde looking to pick up a second World Cup qualifying win.

Cape Verde, on the other hand, go in search of a first victory in Group C following a stalemate in their opening fixture last time out.


Match preview

Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr pictured in July 2019© Reuters

Going head-to-head for the first time in three years, Nigeria saw off the threat of Liberia with a 2-0 triumph at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Friday.

Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho broke the deadlock midway through the first-half, before grabbing a second on the stroke of half time.

Consequently, Gernot Rohr's men are now unbeaten in their last seven competitive outings, winning five of them, including each of the last three.

Having already secured their place at next year's AFCON in January, the Super Eagles now continue their quest to feature in November's World Cup with a first ever meeting against Cape Verde.

With six appearances already under their belt, Tuesday's hosts already the experience needed at this level, which could play a big part in their qualifying campaign.

Cape Verde missed out on an opportunity to get their qualifying campaign underway with a victory following a 1-1 draw versus the Central African Republic on Wednesday.

Julio Tavares saw his first-half goal cancelled out eight minutes into the second period by Tresor Toropite which led to a share of the spoils in Douala.

The Blue Sharks now return to their home turf, where they are unbeaten in five games and claimed an impressive 3-1 win over Cameroon last time out.

With opponents of a high calibre expected in town once again, Tuesday's hosts will be confident of securing another feather in the cap.

Cape Verde World Cup Qualifying - Africa form:
  • D

Cape Verde form (all competitions):
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D

Nigeria World Cup Qualifying - Africa form:
  • W

Nigeria form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • W



Team News

Nigeria will be without Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, Leon Balogun, William Ekong, Oghenekaro Etebo and Joe Aribo as Cape Verde is on the Red List of travel restrictions for UK-based players.

The likes of Shehu Abdullahi, Ahmed Musa and Samuel Kalu are in line to be named in the starting XI this time around after featuring off the bench last time out.

Musa's next appearance for his nation will be his 100th, second only to the duo of Vincent Enyeama and Joseph Yobo who currently lead the way with 101.

Julio Tavares ended a three-year international goal drought with his equaliser against the Central African Republic, and the 32-year-old also became his nation's 10th-most capped player of all time in the aforementioned game.

Ryan Mendes has scored two of Cape Verde's last three goals on home turf, the most recent of which was the clincher in a 3-1 victory over Cameroon.

Cape Verde possible starting lineup:
Vozinha; D. Tavares, Lopes, Stopira, S. Furtado; Andrade, Ponck, Santos; Mendes, J. Tavares, A. Furtado

Nigeria possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Aina, Collins, Omeruo, Ebuehi; Innocent, Abdullahi, Kalu; Simon, Musa, Osimhen


SM words green background

We say: Cape Verde 0-1 Nigeria

Despite the unavailability of several key stars, the Super Eagles will back themselves to claim all three points away from home. While they may not be as dominant as last time out, we are tipping Nigeria to come out on top.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Cape Verde win with a probability of 47.63%. A win for Nigeria had a probability of 27.18% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.

The most likely scoreline for a Cape Verde win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.36%) and 2-0 (8.37%). The likeliest Nigeria win was 0-1 (7.66%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.96%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 6.7% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Cape Verde vs Nigeria

Cape Verde
14.8%
Draw
14.8%
Nigeria
70.4%
27
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