Gabon vs Burkina Faso Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Gabon’s dreams of lifting the African Cup of Nations in front of the home crowd were dealt a blow on Saturday as they failed to win their group opener against tournament debutants Guinea-Bissau.

Star player and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played his role with a second half opener, but the defence couldn’t keep the underdogs at bay, eventually conceding a 90th minute equaliser. Fortunately for Gabon the clash between Burkina Faso and Cameroon ended 1-1 too, leaving the group wide open with two games left to play.

Burkina Faso performed admirably against Cameroon as they look to recreate the success they achieved in 2013, when they earned the runners up medal against all the odds. The players may have performed well to earn a draw, but the first half was a shambles as the confused players struggled to get to grip with manager Paulo Duarte’s tactics. The second half was a vast improvement though, so we can expect them to perform similarly as they did in the second half when they face Gabon.

The hosts’ failure to win on Saturday made it four draws on the bounce for them and five without a victory. Admittedly only a couple of these have been competitive matches, but they need to find their feet quickly if they are to go far in this competition.

Burkina Faso’s draw made it one win, two draws, and two defeats in their last five matches. However, their positive results have come against largely weaker teams than Gabon and defeats to Morocco and Mali show that they can definitely be vulnerable when facing quality opposition.

The Gabon squad on a whole isn’t rife with raw talent, but the presence of captain Aubameyang should be enough to get them the three points. The Borussia Dortmund star has now scored 22 goals in 24 appearances for club and country this season following his tournament opener on Saturday. At 11/10 to score anytime he looks a fantastic choice for our main match predictions, especially since Burkina Faso have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven outings. Alongside this I’m going for a 2-1 win for Gabon at 8/1 for our correct score predictions.