Ghana and Ethiopia will both kick off their World Cup Qualifying group campaigns on Friday, when they square off in the opening round of games.
The visitors had to earn their spot in the group with a knockout game against Lesotho, while their hosts come in with high hopes of reaching next year's tournament as one of the group favourites.
Match preview
© Reuters
After a run of three consecutive World Cup appearances between 2006 and 2014, including a run to the quarter-finals in 2010, Ghana failed to reach the 2018 tournament in Russia and will be keen to make a quick return.
In a difficult spell for the national side, they failed to impress in the African Cup of Nations a year later, as the Black Stars were dumped out by Tunisia at the round-of-16 stage, falling short in a penalty shootout after a 92nd-minute Rami Bedoui own goal saw them draw level in regular time.
Since that disappointing run, Ghana have bounced back relatively well, booking their spot in next year's African Cup of nations as they topped their qualification group with 13 points from six matches.
However, the most recent round of friendlies in June saw them fall to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Morocco, before they played out a goalless draw with Ivory Coast last time out.
Hoping to avoid another four years without an appearance at the World Cup, Charles Akonnor's men will be hopeful of getting off to a winning start on Friday, as they take on an Ethiopia side who only scraped through the first round to reach this stage.
A two-legged tie with Lesotho stood between Friday's visitors and the qualification group, and the Walia ibex progressed by the barest of margins in 2019.
They drew 0-0 on home turf, and a Nkau Lerotholi own goal saw the away leg finish 1-1, with Ethiopia winning the tie on away goals as a result.
Since that triumph, they have won five of 14 games in all competitions, beginning with an eye-catching 2-1 victory over Ivory Coast in African Cup of Nations Qualification, before they went on an impressive run of form either side of the turn of the year.
Wubetu Abate's side rounded off 2020 with a 3-0 AFCON Qualifying win over Niger, before returning to action in March with back-to-back 4-0 wins, firstly defeating Malawi in a friendly before cruising past Mozambique in the qualifying group.
That form saw them reach next year's continental competition, and on the back of a 2-1 win over Uganda on Sunday, they will hope to defy the odds and start with a victory in their attempt to reach the World Cup for the first time in the nation's history.
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Team News
Ghana have selected a star-studded squad for the upcoming round of World Cup Qualifiers, with Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew offering plenty of quality and experience going forward.
Daniel Amartey has largely been deployed as a centre-back for Leicester City in recent seasons, but he could play a role in midfield for his national side as one of the most accomplished central players, especially given the absence of Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey through injury.
Alexander Djiku and Nicholas Opoku could partner up at the heart of a back four, while Chelsea's Baba Rahman and Bordeaux's Gideon Mensah will both hope to start at left-back, with the other perhaps accommodated further up the pitch.
The majority of Ethiopia's talent comes in the front line, with Abubeker Nassir having hit 29 goals in 23 appearances in the domestic top flight last season, while Mujib Kassim and Getaneh Kebede netted 20 and 15 goals respectively.
Kebede holds the all-time scoring record for his nation, and Abate should find a system to allow him to field all three dangerous attackers.
Yared Baye and Aschalew Tamene could partner up at the heart of a back four, shielding Fasil Gebremichael between the sticks.
Ghana possible starting lineup:
Ati-Zigi; Yiadom, Dijku, Opoku, Mensah; Schlupp, Iddrisu, Lomotey, Rahman; A Ayew, J Ayew
Ethiopia possible starting lineup:
Gebremichael; Awol, Baye, Tamene, Yohannes; Sherefa, Mohamed, Yohannes; Kassim, Kebede, Nassir
We say: Ghana 2-0 Ethiopia
While they are missing several important players, Ghana still come into the game with the stronger squad and should have enough to get past Ethiopia thanks to their quality all over the pitch.
Akonnor's men come in as clear favourites, and they will be keen not to slip up in the opening game with the hopes of putting a strong run together to reach next year's World Cup.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Ghana win with a probability of 47.21%. A win for Ethiopia had a probability of 27.02% and a draw had a probability of 25.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Ghana win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.41%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.23%) and 2-0 (8.6%). The likeliest Ethiopia win was 0-1 (8.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.25%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Ghana in this match.
