MX23RW : Thursday, April 18 17:33:46| >> :600:2071419:2071419:
[monks data]
Nigeria national football team
Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 24, 2023 at 4pm UK
 
Guinea-Bissau national football team

Nigeria
0 - 1
Guinea-Bissau

FT(HT: 0-1)
Balde (29')
Encada (45'), Balde (52'), Balde (52')

Preview: Nigeria vs. Guinea-Bissau - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Friday's Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying clash between Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Two teams who have made fine starts to their respective Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaigns face off on Friday when Nigeria entertain the challenge of Guinea-Bissau.

The hosts have claimed maximum points from their opening two qualifiers, while the visitors remain unbeaten heading into the clash at Abuja National Stadium.


Match preview

Nigeria's Victor Osimhen pictured on July 17, 2019© Reuters

Off the back of a 2-1 victory against Sierra Leone to get their qualification journey underway, Nigeria strolled to an impressive 10-0 victory against Sao Tome and Principe on June 13.

Victor Osimhen was the star of the show for Jose Peseiro's men as he netted four times and set up further strikes for Moses Simon and Terem Moffi, who were joined on the scoresheet by Peter Etebo, Ademola Lookman and Emmanuel Dennis.

However, the Super Eagles have been beaten in each of their subsequent three outings, which luckily for them have all been largely inconsequential friendlies.

They will now seek to return to winning ways against an opposing outfit who suffered a 2-0 defeat in the only previous edition of this fixture back in the 2022 AFCON.

Currently unbeaten on home turf since 2021, Friday's hosts will be looking to put on a dominant display in front of what is set to be an expectant home crowd.

Guinea-Bissau were denied the opportunity to maintain their perfect AFCON qualifying record following a 2-2 stalemate against Sierra Leone at the General Lansana Conte Stadium in June.

After storming to a two-goal lead courtesy of Jorginho's brace, Baciro Cande's looked to be on course for a huge win before late goals from Augustus Kargbo and Musa Kamara forced a share of the spoils.

With four points from their opening two matches, Djurtus sit second in Group A, two points adrift of this weekend's opponents ahead of the contest in the Nigerian capital.

Having fared poorly on their recent travels, Friday's visitors are faced with yet another daunting task on the road where they have won just one of their last nine matches across all competitions.

Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying form:


Nigeria form (all competitions):


Guinea-Bissau Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying form:


Guinea-Bissau form (all competitions):



Team News

Following his two-goal haul against Sierra Leone, Jorginho is now up to five international strikes for Guinea-Bissau and continues to move up the all-time scoring charts.

Having marked his first outing for the away side with a goal, 25-year-old Jardel will be pushing for a place in the starting lineup for this one.

Kingsley Aniagboso and Victor Sochima have both been handed their maiden call-up to the Nigerian national team, but neither is expected to displace Francis Uzoho between the sticks.

Arguably the hottest property in European football right now, Victor Osimhen is set to lead the hosts' attack in a two-man strike partnership alongside Terem Moffi.

Osimhen, who has now netted 15 times for his country, currently sits ninth in the all-time scoring charts while also boasting the best goal-to-game ratio of anybody in the top 10.

Nigeria possible starting lineup:
Uzoho; Sanusi, Bassey, Ajayi, Osayi-Samuel; Iwobi, Ndidi, Aribo, Lookman; Osimhen, Moffi

Guinea-Bissau possible starting lineup:
Mendes; Mane, Nanu, Cande, Nogueira; Cassama, Semedo, Rodrigues; Piqueti, Jorginho, Gano


SM words green background

We say: Nigeria 3-1 Guinea-Bissau

Nigeria ended 2022 on a poor run of results but their first outing of 2023 provides a good chance to get themselves back on track. We expect the home side to see off the threat of their visitors in comfortable fashion at the end of the 90 minutes.


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


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


ID:509624:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect10573:

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Game History

How you voted: Nigeria vs Guinea-Bissau

Nigeria
95.9%
Draw
2.0%
Guinea-Bissau
2.0%
49
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
General view of Stoke City's bet365 Stadium taken March 2018
Read Next:
Stoke City: Transfer ins and outs - Summer 2022
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!