Looking to maintain their perfect record in Group H of the World Cup 2022 qualifiers, Senegal play host to Namibia at the Stade Lat Dior on Saturday.
The visitors, who have enjoyed a solid start so far, are currently second in the group standings and will look to keep the juggernaut rolling and upset their hosts.
Match preview
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Senegal kicked off their pursuit of a third World Cup appearance on good note courtesy of a comfortable 2-0 victory over Togo in their group curtain-raiser on September 1.
Following an uneventful first half, the game sparked into life in the 56th minute when Sadio Mane broke the deadlock before Abdou Diallo doubled the lead with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
Aliou Cisse's men made it two wins from two six days later as they cruised to a 3-1 win over Congo when the sides squared off at the Stade Alphonse Massamba-Debat.
Boulaye Dia's opener was cancelled out by Silvere Ganvoula on the stroke of half time, but Ismaila Sarr and Mane scored in a five-minute spell to hand the Lions of Teranga all three points.
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations runners-up are now unbeaten in each of their most recent eight games across all competitions, picking up six wins and two draws since a 3-1 friendly loss to Morocco in October 2020.
That has been owing to the solid job done at both ends of the pitch as they have scored 14 goals and kept five clean sheets in that time.
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Namibia, on the other hand, began their quest for a World Cup ticket back in 2019, when they claimed a 4-1 aggregate win over Eritrea to progress to the second qualifying round.
Ricardo Mannetti's men were denied a dream start to the group stages as Congo came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw courtesy of Charles Hambira's 58th-minute own goal in their opening game on September 2.
The Brave Warriors picked up their first group win three days later when Elmo Kambindu netted in the 53rd minute to see off a dogged Togo side 1-0 at the Stade de Kegue.
Namibia now head into Saturday's game unbeaten in each of their previous five outings in all competitions, dating back to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Tanzania in the African Nations Championship.
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Team News
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Cisse has named a star-studded 25-man squad for their upcoming qualification games, with the likes of Chelsea's Edouard Mendy, Paris Saint-Germain's Idrissa Gueye, and captain Kalidou Koulibaly.
Liverpool star Sadio Mane, who has netted six goals in his last eight games for club and country, is currently second on the nation's all-time goalscoring chart, four goals behind former Wigan Athletic man Henri Camara, and the 29-year-old will be looking to close that gap over the coming games.
Ismaila Sarr has been on song for Watford in the Premier League, scoring four goals in seven appearances, and the 23-year-old will definitely be one to keep an eye on in this one.
Meanwhile, Namibia have named a strong squad for their upcoming games against Senegal, including the Chippa United duo of goalkeeper Lloyd Junior Kazapua and defender Riaan Hanamub.
Blackburn Rovers defender Ryan Nyambe misses out after withdrawing from the squad through an injury he sustained against Huddersfield Town on September 28.
Denzil Haoseb is one appearance from equalling Petrus Shitembi as the nation's most capped player with 69 appearances under his belts to date.
Peter Shalulile and Deon Hotto are joint-third in the nation's scoring chart with 10 goals respectively and we expect the duo to handle business at the attacking end of their pitch this weekend.
Senegal possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Mbaye, Koulibaly, Diallo, Ballo-Toure; Gueye, P Sarr; Diatta, Mane, I Sarr; Dia
Namibia possible starting lineup:
Kazapua; Kamberipa, Gebhardt, Hambira, Hanamub; Limbondi, Katjiteo, Haoseb, Hotto; Kambindu, Shalulile
We say: Senegal 2-0 Namibia
While Namibia will be looking to continue their solid start to their World Cup qualification campaign, they have the stern test of going up against a rampant Senegal side who are currently 20th in the FIFA World Rankings.
We predict Senegal will come away with all three points as they head into the game with a fine crop of world-class talent.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
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 Senegal win with a probability of 50.49%. A win for Namibia had a probability of 24.76% and a draw had a probability of 24.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Senegal win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.12%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.54%) and 2-0 (9.02%). The likeliest Namibia win was 0-1 (7.26%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.76%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 2.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Senegal would win this match.
