Ivory Coast vs Togo Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Ivory Coast come into this match as defending champions of the African Cup of Nations, and with the bookies placing them as favourites to win this one, the pressure is on them to get off on the right foot against Togo.

It’s no surprise they are favourites really. They have European stars such as Serge Aurier, Eric Bailly, Franck Kessie, Wilfried Zaha, Wilfried Bony, and Salomon Kalou in their squad. Zaha is a new addition after he decided to ditch his England career in favour of Ivory Coast, and he got off to a good start by assisting a goal against Sweden and then scoring against Uganda in his first two appearances.

That goal against Uganda was one of three for Ivory Coast, making it four wins and six draws for them in their last ten outings. They have kept a clean sheet in half of these, but going forward they have seemed to have some problems breaking teams down. This resulted in them picking up just six points from their four qualifying games, scoring three goals and conceding two in a series of uninspiring matches.

Togo managed 11 points from their six qualifying matches, which was enough to earn them 2nd in the group behind Tunisia. Since then they have managed to beat Uganda and Mozambique in friendlies, but more recent friendlies have seen them draw against Comoros and lose to Morocco.

The underdog’s squad is much less recognisably talented than Ivory Coast’s. Emmanuel Adebayor is by far the biggest name in there, with the free agent having 30 goals in 73 international appearances. Fulham midfielder Floyd Ayite and Genoa midfielder Serge Gakpe are also notable inclusions, but apart from that they are somewhat lacking in the quality department.

They have conceded four goals in their last two matches, so despite Ivory Coast’s occasional struggles up front, I think the favourites will be able to find a way through. They have scored five goals in their two warm up friendlies for this too, and with Wilfried Zaha making such an instant impact on the international scene I think backing him to score anytime at 11/5 is a good choice for our goalscorer predictions.

In fact, I think that Zaha to Score Anytime is the best value bet of them all here, so that’s what I’m going for alongside a 2-1 win for Ivory Coast at 15/2 for my correct score predictions.