This year’s Africa Cup of Nations is entering into the final stages this week, with Wednesday hosting both of the semi-final games. The first of the two semi-finals sees Nigeria take on South Africa, while the second is between hosts Ivory Coast and DR Congo.
Nigeria come into the final four as the favourites to win the tournament, but with two games left to play anything can happen. AFCON has provided plenty of drama throughout the tournament so far, and we expect more to come in these two upcoming clashes.
Bet on the most markets in Nigeria for the Super Eagles vs South Africa!
Nigeria vs South Africa
Wednesday 7 February, 18:00
Stade de Bouake
Nigeria come into this match having had an impressive AFCON so far with them managing their fourth consecutive clean sheet in the quarter-final match against Angola.
While Nigeria have been defensively solid, the attacking output hasn’t quite reached the same levels during this tournament so far. The Super Eagles have only scored more than one goal in one of the five games they have played in the tournament so far, with this being in the game against Cameroon.
This would have come as a surprise to many with Nigeria’s attacking quality being the factor that made them potential favourites prior to the tournament beginning, but players like Victor Osimhen have yet to get their tournament truly underway with the Napoli forward scoring just once so far.
The main shining light in the attacking areas for Nigeria so far though has been Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman. A brace against Cameroon and a thumping finish against Angola has seen Lookman become just the fourth Nigerian to score three or more goals during the knockout rounds of a single tournament, joining the likes of Odion Ighalo, Jay-Jay Okocha and Rashidi Yekini.
With the Super Eagles now just one step away from a final that they will be so desperate to reach, they must first beat giant-killers South Africa.
One bit of breaking news to keep an eye on is Osimhen’s fitness after a late scare, but hopefully the Super Eagles superstar is fit enough to make the starting XI.
The Bafana Bafana had the hard task of playing tournament favourites Morocco in their initial knockout game of the tournament, leaving many giving them no chance of making it through. But South Africa rose to the occasion as they scored two of their three shots on target and kept Morocco from scoring to progress through to the next round.
Their next game saw them face Cape Verde where they ended up progressing through in even more dramatic fashion. After 120 minutes the game was still all-square, meaning it would all come down to a penalty shootout. Of the nine penalties that were taken five were saved by the respective goalkeepers of either side, with South Africa winning 2-1 when Ronwen Williams saved Patrick Andrade’s penalty. This has left South Africa in their first appearance in an AFCON semi-final since 2000, and they’ll be hoping to go all the way and claim their first title since 1996.
However, if they are to progress then they must first beat Nigeria, a task which they have never been able to do in AFCON tournaments. In their three meetings in previous tournament South Africa have lost 2-0, 4-0 and 2-1, giving Nigeria the upper hand coming into this one.
Bet9ja Tips
Both teams will be coming into this huge match desperate to make it into the final and we expect that this will prove to be a tight encounter for the two teams. However, we believe that Nigeria’s defensively solidity in this tournament, combined with their overwhelming quality in the attacking areas will help them to claim victory and move into the final. You can get odds of Nigeria to win of 1.63 with Bet9ja.
Ademola Lookman has scored all three of Nigeria’s goals in the knockout rounds so far this tournament, and we back him to score once again in this one. You can get odds of 4.00 for Lookman to score anytime throughout the game, with Bet9ja.
Bet9ja Odds (at time of writing, 90 minutes only): Nigeria win: 1.63, Draw: 3.55, South Africa win: 6.70
Booking Codes:
Nigeria win & 1-0 correct score: 66B7HZF
Nigeria win & under 1.5 goals: 66B7L6F
Lookman to score anytime: 66B7MV5
Back the Super Eagles to do it again at Bet9ja!
