Preview:Uganda vs. Niger - prediction, team news, lineups

Uganda welcome Niger to the St. Mary's Stadium-Kitende on Wednesday in their second qualifier for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Neither team was able to come out on top in their respective openers last time out, and both will be looking to get their qualifying journey up and running.

Match preview

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Uganda fell to a 2-0 defeat against the Desert Warriors of Algeria in Saturday's clash at the 5 July 1962 Stadium.

Goals in either half from Aissa Mandi and Youcef Belaili were enough to put Milutin Sredojevic's men to the sword in Algiers.

The Cranes have now lost four of their seven outings since the turn of the year and will need to get going as soon as possible.

Awaiting them next is the task of an opposing outfit who will be seeking revenge for a 3-0 thrashing in the last meeting between the teams.

Unbeaten in each of their last six outings on home turf, Wednesday's hosts will back themselves to get the job done and kickstart their qualification journey.

Niger had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Tanzania in their opening Group F fixture on Saturday at the Stade de l'Amitie.

Jean-Michel Cavalli's men fell behind to George Mpole's strike in the first minute before drawing level through Daniel Sosah in Cotonou.

As a result, the Menas still remain without a victory in 2022 after closing out 2021 with an emphatic 7-2 triumph over Djibouti.

More worryingly for Wednesday's visitors, they have only won two of their 12 matches on the road, which does not make for good reading ahead of another outing away from home.

Team News

Niger's Daniel Sosah has picked up where he left off at club level, with his last two outings now yielding three goals, and the forward is one to keep an eye on.

Despite a disappointing display in attack last time out, Victorien Adebayor is expected to retain his place in the starting XI.

Farouk Miya will be looking to bounce back from a day to forget against Algeria as he spurned a first-half penalty to draw his side level.

With 89 caps international amassed, Emmanuel Okwi has now moved into second place in his nation's all-time appearances chart, but the 29-year-old is still a fair way off Godfrey Walusimbi, who leads the way with 105.

Uganda possible starting lineup:

Lukwago; Muleme, Lwaliwa, Mugabi, Kizito; Youngman, Aucho, Karisa; Okwi, Miya, Okello

Niger possible starting lineup:

Van Attenhoven; Alhassane, Diabate, Karim, Garba; Oumarou, Soumana; Wonkoye, Moutari, Adebayor; Sosah

We say: Uganda 2-1 Niger

Both teams already have some catching up to do after failing to win their opening games, so we expect a keenly-contested affair in this one. We are also tipping the hosts to scrape a narrow win at the end of the 90 minutes.

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