After meeting last Friday, Niger and Algeria will again square off on Tuesday in World Cup 2022 Qualifying action.
El Khadra earned a dominant 6-1 victory in the previous clash and face a quick turnaround as they travel to Niger for the reverse fixture with the hopes of continuing their strong start to the qualifying campaign.
Match preview
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Niger began their World Cup Qualifying campaign in September with a home clash against Burkina Faso, and they were handed a disappointing 2-0 defeat before putting their first points on the board in the second outing.
Jean-Michel Cavalli's men travelled to take on Djibouti and, after going behind in the first half, they turned the game on its head as a Victorien Adebayor brace and goals from Mohamed Wonkoye and Amadou Sabo fired them to an eventual 4-2 victory.
The Menas were unable to build on that last time out though, as they were handed a 6-1 thrashing in Algeria on Friday, leaving them on three points from three games.
With only one team from each group guaranteed a place in next year's tournament, Niger are left in a difficult situation in their bid to reach a first World Cup, and they will see a victory on Tuesday as vital if they are to stand a chance of overcoming the odds.
That will be no easy task though, as the visitors will look to repeat Friday's performance with another dominant win.
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Algeria got off to an eye-catching start in the qualifying group, as Islam Slimani netted four goals alongside finishes from Ramy Bensebaini, Baghdad Bounedjah, Riyad Mahrez and Ramiz Zerrouki in an 8-0 thrashing of Djibouti on home turf.
They were then held to a draw by Burkina Faso, before bouncing back to winning ways in style last time out against Niger.
While Daniel Sosah pulled a goal back for the visitors after a Mahrez finish and a Youssouf Oumarou own goal, El Khadra quickly stormed out of sight, as Mahrez found the net for a second time before Zakariya Souleymane scored an own goal and Slimani netted a late brace to seal an eye-catching 6-1 win.
Currently leading Burkina Faso on goal difference at the top of the group, Djamel Belmadi's side will be keen to extend their strong run with a victory to maintain their position at the summit, after missing out on the 2018 World Cup.
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Team News
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Niger will be boosted by the return of midfielder Hassane Adamou, who served a suspension last time out after picking up a red card in the victory over Djibouti, despite not entering play in that game.
Victorien Adebayor will continue to play an important role going forward, after netting a brace in that victory.
Algeria will be led by captain Riyad Mahrez, who has three Premier League titles and 24 international goals to his name.
He is not the only Algerian player operating at the top level, with West Ham United star Said Benrahma and Lyon forward Islam Slimani also featuring heavily in the attacking line.
AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer offers plenty of quality in the centre, and he could again be joined by Ramiz Zerrouki.
Niger possible starting lineup:
Daouda; Lybohy, Diabate, Garba, Salamun; Mohamed, Oumarou; Wonkoye, Adebayor, Sosah; Soumana
Algeria possible starting lineup:
M'Bolhi; Atal, Mandi, Bedrane, Fares; Benrahma, Bennacer, Zerrouki, Mahrez; Bounedjah, Slimani
We say: Niger 1-4 Algeria
Following the rampant Algeria victory last time out, we do not see the turn of home advantage making a major difference on Tuesday and expect the visitors to come away with another dominant result.
The Desert Foxes boast far more quality than their opponents, and they should continue their march towards next year's World Cup with relative ease.
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 Algeria win with a probability of 44.64%. A win for Niger had a probability of 28.6% and a draw had a probability of 26.8%.
The most likely scoreline for an Algeria win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.88%) and 0-2 (8.34%). The likeliest Niger win was 1-0 (9.05%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.67%). The actual scoreline of 0-4 was predicted with a 1.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Algeria would win this match.
