Sports Mole anticipates Friday’s African Nations Championship clash between Algeria and Libya, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
The 2023 African Nations Championship kicks off with a match between Algeria Y Libya at the Nelson Mandela Stadium on Friday night.
Both teams will be looking to establish an early statement of intent in Pool A, where they have been drawn alongside Ethiopia and Mozambique.
match preview
Algeria concluded their preparations for the upcoming CHAN tournament with a goalless draw against Ghana at the Miloud-Hadefi Stadium on Saturday.
Despite being on top for long periods of the contest, Madjid Bougherra‘s men failed to find the breakthrough that their dominance of the day perhaps deserved.
It is now five games without a win for the Fennec Foxes in all competitions since December 17, when they beat the threat from Syria.
Next, they are tasked with taking on an opposing team that is unbeaten in the four most recent meetings between the teams, winning three of them.
Algeria, participating in the African Nations Championship for the second time, will be eager to build on their first appearance in 2011, which ended in a group stage exit.
Libya fell to a comprehensive 3-1 defeat against the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the two teams went head-to-head in a warm-up match on Saturday.
After going behind masaurown Goal, corentin martins‘s men leveled things through mohammedbefore a brace in the second part of Jean-Marc Makusu decided the contest.
Consequently, The Mediterranean Knights have now been beaten in back-to-back matches in 2023 following a 2-1 win against Tanzania in their final 2022 fixture.
Aiming to replicate their success from CHAN 2014, where they went all the way in South Africa, Libya are now looking for a winning start to this year’s edition.
Algeria form (all competitions):
Libya form (all competitions):
team news
youcef laouafi Y karim arabi they are the most experienced members of the Algerian team, having recorded a total of five appearances for the senior team.
Both men are expected to appear early on here alongside Aymen Mahiouswho opened his international account in a 2-2 draw against Senegal last month.
Just a week after threatening to withdraw from the competition, Libya recently launched its 28-man squad of local players in accordance with CHAN rules.
Rabea Al-Laafi He has been given the task of leading the troops and, unsurprisingly, the 31-year-old participated in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
Algeria’s possible starting line-up:
chaal; Belkhiter, Laouafi, Keddad, Loucif; Kendouci, Draoui, Mrezigue; Aribi, Debbih, Meziane
Libya possible starting lineup:
azzaqa; Al Laafi, Fakroun, El-Thalba, Makkari; Muhammad, Al-Masry, Belaem; Al-Mehdi, Alharaish, Al-Musrati
We say: Algeria 2-1 Libya
Cheered on by their home fans, Algeria should be fully prepared for this one and will be backed to emerge victorious at the end of the 90 minutes. We can see the hosts emerging triumphant, albeit only by a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match, click here.
Better advice
Our expert forecast partners at Sporita.com predict over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they’re predicting for this game, and for more of their tried and tested soccer tips.More than 1.5: data
