Egypt vs Uganda Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Uganda came into this tournament as the rank outsiders in this group having not qualified for the African Cup of Nations since 1978, when they reached the final. They gave a pretty good account of themselves in their opening game, only losing 1-0 to Ghana but they are now in a position where they must get a result here to stay in the competition.

That won’t be easy against an Egyptian side that are one of the undisputed powerhouses of African football. Hector Cuper’s side reached Gabon by finishing 5 points clear of Nigeria in their Qualifying Group and they’ve also made a really good start to World Cup qualifying with 2 wins from 2 so far to put them on course for Russia.

Confidence, therefore, should be pretty high in the Pharaohs camp and they should find this Uganda side a touch easier to break down than Mali, who held them to a 0-0 draw on match-day one. Egypt are still a bit short on cutting edge which could be a problem later in the tournament but defensively you’d back them to keep Uganda quiet.

They may have to again call upon 44 year old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who became the oldest player in the tournament’s history last time out when he came off the bench to replace the injured Ahmed El Shenawy. However, the veteran should have precious little to do behind an Egypt defence that has kept a clean sheet in 10 of their last 16 internationals.

This Uganda side has failed to score in 10 of their last 14 internationals and most of those games have been against sides inferior to Egypt. Therefore, if the Egyptians can find the breakthrough, which they should be able to at some point in the game, it’s hard to see them throwing it away and backing Egypt to win to nil at 6/4 looks a tempting bet.