Mali to make winning start

 

Sunday sees second favourites Ghana make their bow. James Eastham assesses their chances and looks at the other match on an exciting day of action.

 

Mali v Niger

Live on British Eurosport & ITV4, 18:00 GMT, Match Odds: Mali 1.57, Mali 7.4, The Draw 4.0

 

Mali have been one of African's more unpredictable sides in recent years. They went out of this tournament at the group stages in 2008 and 2010 before finishing third at the finals 12 months ago.

 

And they have split opinion among African football followers about how they'll do this time around.

 

On paper, at the very least they deserve their ante-post status as 14.5 fifth favourites and should be possibly higher than that in the rankings. They have power in the form of centre-half Adama Coulibaly and PSG's former Liverpool and Juventus midfielder Momo Sissoko, craft in the shape of Seydou Keita and Mahamane Traore, who's performed miracles as a deep-lying playmaker for Nice this season, and goalscoring potential through totemic Bordeaux striker Cheick Diabate and Modibo Maiga, shunned for much of the season at West Ham.

 

Others can contribute, too. Lens midfielder Samba Sow has been outstanding in Ligue 2 over the past three months, Bastia's leggy midfield runner Sambou Yatabare is an unusual combination of finesse and awkwardness while Rennes starlet Cheick Fantamady Diarra is a pocket dynamo of a striker likely to start on the bench but who could play his way into the side.

 

A primary problem for coach Patrice Carteron - whose leaps, bounds and punches in the air often made him as exciting to watch as his team when manager of Dijon - is naming the right Starting XI, but no matter who he picks, Mali should have too much quality for group outsiders Niger.

 

The underdogs finished bottom of Group C with no points 12 months ago and are set to fare little better this time if the market's to be believed: they are 270.0 to win the tournament, the biggest price of any of the participants, and 6.4 to qualify from the pool.

 

Moussa Maazou is a powerful front man who did well in Belgium before struggling in France, but he alone will not be enough. If you look through the teams man-for-man there's an obvious gulf in class.

 

That's why I make Mali a strong bet to win. The 1.57 on them will be too short for many bettors so I recommend them on the Asian Handicap. By backing Mali +1.0 Asian Handicap at 2.0 you'll get your stakes back if they win by a single goal and make a profit should they win by two goals or more.

 

 

Ghana v Congo DR

Live on British Eurosport, 15:00 GMT, Match Odds: Ghana 1.54, DR Congo 8.2, The Draw 4.1

 

Congo DR are many people's tip to be tournament dark horses. This game will tell us more about whether they deserve that tag.

 

Much of the hype surrounding the team is down to two men. The first is striker Dieumerci Mbokani, who's netted 15 goals in 15 league games for Anderlecht this season. The second is coach Claude Le Roy, a legendary figure in African football having coached Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana. This is his second spell as DR Congo boss.

 

Tournament second favourites Ghana have problems. Star player Andre Ayew is missing for disciplinary reasons and long-standing centre-half John Mensah is also out. The team has more than enough quality to make the latter rounds of the tournament but I would rather asses them here before backing them.

 

Best Bet: Mali -1.0 Asian Handicap v Niger @ 2.02

 

Bet HERE

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