Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia Predictions

• Burkina Faso need to win to ensure qualification, although a draw or even narrow defeat could suffice in some circumstances.
• Burkina Faso beat Cape Verde 1-0 a few days after the Blue Sharks had beaten Ethiopia by the same scoreline.
• Ethiopia have scored in three of their last five competitive away games, including against Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

Stallions are strong enough – even without Traore

Burkina Faso have put themselves in a great position to qualify for the next round and a win against Ethiopia on Monday would also ensure they don’t face a big team in the last 16. The Stallions would likely go up against Gabon, who are ranked almost 30 slots below them on the Fifa list, if they were to clinch second place in Group A behind Cameroon.

A draw would be enough to secure second spot as long as Cape Verde don’t pull off one of the shocks of the tournament and beat the hosts, but the Burkinabe are good enough to get the victory. Burkina Faso has been a major player in this competition over recent years with a final appearance in 2013 as well as a semi-final spot four years later.

Kamou Malo’s men came into the tournament on a run of eight matches without defeat, although that was halted by the Indomitable Lions in the opening game. But they did what they had to against the Blue Sharks to stay on course for the latter stages.

Eliminated teams can be dangerous

Ethiopia are out, which may or may not help the Stallions in their quest, as a team under no pressure with nothing to play for can be dangerous. Both teams have been hit by COVID this month with Burkina Faso having to get by without their most important player Bertrand Traore in both games. It will be no different here and he will be joined on the sidelines by a few others too.