Ivory Coast – Guinea

Ivory Coast meets Guinea in the first match of the African Cup of Nations Group D. Cameroon and Mali are also in the group, so on paper this is the most accessible game for Ivory Coast and they are priced with odds around 1.55.

Ivory Coast obviously has a lot of quality in their ranks but they are rarely able to showcase it … at the moment they look far from title challengers despite the big names they have. Ivory Coast is in horrible form … they had a poor World Cup, followed by an even worse qualifying campaign for the Cup of Nations (almost didn’t qualify vs Cameroon, DR Congo and Sierra Leone) and finally played real bad football in the two preparation friendlies last week. They beat Nigeria 1-0 in an ugly game and played an atrocious match vs. the “C” or “D” team of Sweden, losing 2-0.

Team news reports that Ivory Coast has no injury concerns but they will not have some players like Drogba who retired from the National Team over the last year.

Bet on Ivory Coast vs. Guinea with the highest football odds at PinnacleSports.com!

Guinea is the outsider in this group but we know in African Cup of Nations everything is possible … Guinea finished 2nd in the qualifying group only 1 point behind Ghana but they were lucky to have opponents like Uganda and Togo, making qualification much easier. Guinea actually has a good team with players making their living in top european leagues, especially France, where they are important parts in their teams. Team news for Guinea say that only captain Zayatte is a doubt, but he will almost surely start.

The way Ivory Coast is looking, this will be a tough match for them. They are playing the same slow, ugly football for a long time now and even though maybe they will improve a bit, I don’t think they can suddenly come with the goods out of nowhere … Ivory Coast is not a real team, they only have individualities and if Guinea plays organized football like they did in the qualifiers, they have a chance to even take a point. Guinea might not have big names, but they are a very capable team with very good players and can play together. My tip will be Guinea +1 asian handicap. Correct score prediction: Ivory Coast – Guinea 1-1.

Pick: Guinea (+1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.83 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.64
Event date: 20 January