Nigeria and Ghana both come into this game with a change in manager following the departures of their head coaches following the Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite finishing second at AFCON Jose Peseiro stepped down following the tournament, leaving Finidi George taking charge of the side ahead of this game.
Ghana have gone through a tough time recently, with their group stage exit at this year’s AFCON being their second successive exit at this stage of the tournament. Chris Hughton was sacked following this disappointment which saw the Black Stars fail to claim a victory, leaving Otto Addo returning to the position.
Nigeria vs Ghana
Friday 22 March, 17:00
Stade de Marrakech
While Nigeria are coming into this game without a permanent manager in charge of the side, not much is expected to change from the system that took them to an AFCON final with George previously being part of Peseiro’s coaching staff.
The Super Eagles may have impressed on their run to the final of AFCON under Peseiro, but their record in international friendlies under the Portuguese manager was extremely poor. Of the eight friendly matches that they played in this time they managed to win just once, a 3-2 victory over Mozambique in October 2023.
George will be looking to get his side off to a good start in this one as he looks to match this tally in just a single friendly match, with the potential for him to earn the managerial job on a permanent basis.
Ghana may not be in the best of form ahead of this game, but they are still expected to provide a difficult challenge for the Super Eagles.
Crashing out of AFCON at the group stages without taking a single victory extended their run of just one win in their last eight games, coming in the form of a 1-0 win over Madagascar in November 2023.
Addo returns to the managerial role after previously leading Ghana into the 2022 World Cup, where they finished bottom of a group containing Uruguay, South Korea and Portugal.
He has already led his side into battle against Nigeria on three separate occasions during his previous spell in charge, drawing the first two and then winning 2-0 in the third. Addo will now be looking to make it four games unbeaten against the Super Eagles in this one.
Bet9ja Tips
Nigeria may be without a permanent manager as George takes charge while the search for contenders continues but with the system expected to continue from a successful AFCON run, the Super Eagles are likely to be a difficult side to beat.
They will have plenty of confidence thanks to this positive run at the competition, while their opponents Ghana are likely to be short of self-belief due to their poor run of form in recent months.
For this reason, we believe that Nigeria will take the victory in this game and you can get odds of this to happen of 2.08 with Bet9ja. In what should be a tight game, a 1-0 Nigeria correct score is priced up at 5.30.
Bet9ja Odds (at time of writing): Nigeria win: 2.08, Draw: 3.05, Ghana win: 4.00
Booking Codes:
6D6Z2FP, 6D6Z32B
