Looking to sign off their otherwise disappointing World Cup qualifying campaigns in style, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia face off at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
The home side are still yet to record a victory from five previous qualifiers and currently sit bottom, three points behind their visitors who have only managed to pick up one win.
Match preview
Zimbabwe were beaten for the fourth consecutive game following a 1-0 defeat versus South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Teboho Mokoena's first-half strike was enough to sink Norman Mapeza's men at the First National Bank Stadium.
Having picked up just one point from their last five matches, the Warriors remain rooted to the bottom of Group G and are in dire need of a pick-me-up.
Their next assignment comes against an opposing side who snatched a late 1-0 triumph in the teams' only previous meeting back in September.
Ethiopia ended a run of back to back defeats with an impressive 1-1 draw versus the Black Stars of Ghana at the Orlando Stadium on Thursday.
After going behind to Andre Ayew's opener, Wubetu Abate's men hit back in the 72nd minute through Getaneh Kebede.
The Walia Ibex, who are yet to record an away win since 2019, now set out to end this woeful record on the road.
Sunday's visitors have also failed to find the back of the net in both of their qualifiers away from home and will need to get going at the attacking end.
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Team News
With two goals in his last three international appearances for Ethiopia, 29-year-old Getaneh Kabede is one to keep an eye on.
Kebede is set to win his 60th cap for the home side and would join Shimelis Bekele as the only players to have reached the milestone.
Blessing Sarupinda endured a frustrating game last time out where he was subbed off before the hour mark, but the Sekhukhune midfielder is expected to retain his place in the XI.
Khama Billiat's next appearance for the home side would be his 49th, and only six players in Zimbabwe's history have recorded more.
Zimbabwe possible starting lineup:
Mhari; Kangwa, Galloway, Madzongwe, Chimwemwe; Nakamba, Takwara, Wadi; Billiat, Moyo, Sarupinda
Ethiopia possible starting lineup:
Shanko; Tunjo, Tamene, Debebe, Yesuf; Bekele, Mohammed, Yohannes; Hotessa, Kebede, Nassif
We say: Zimbabwe 1-1 Ethiopia
Zimbabwe will be looking to exact revenge for September's defeat against their visitors, who will be confident of completing a double over the home side. We fancy a share of the spoils with both teams settling for a point apiece in the end.
Top tip
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 Zimbabwe win with a probability of 49.69%. A draw had a probability of 25.8% and a win for Ethiopia had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Zimbabwe win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.42%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.44%) and 2-1 (9.29%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.22%), while for a Ethiopia win it was 0-1 (8.05%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood.
