Mali vs Ivory Coast Predictions

Ivory Coast were left in second place in their Africa Cup of Nations group, which has pitted them against Mali in the second round. The Eagles are aiming to finally win this tournament. They usually do well when they attend, as they made the semis or better in their first four visits to the Africa Cup of Nations. After finishing third in 2012 and 2013 they are aiming to claim glory in Egypt, but how will they fare against the Elephants?

Ivory Coast won this competition back in 2015, while they are aiming to land more glory in Egypt this summer. Their group results were mixed, as they beat Zambia and Namibia on their way to the last 16. However, their 1-0 loss to a Morocco side who crashed out in the second round is a warning sign. Can they avoid a similar fate when they meet Mali this week?

Mali impressed in their group, finishing up unbeaten after three games. They found the net six times across six matches, which has given them a platform to kick on in the latter stages of this tournament. They do have a talented squad available to them, so the fact that they can get forward and score goals isn’t exactly a shock. However, their young squad does bring doubts about their ability to go all the way in this competition. They’ve not got a player in their group who is over 28, so they could be held back as they reach the knockout round.

Ivory Coast’s talents are focused in attack, while that attack kicked things up a gear in their clash with Namibia on Monday. They saw goals from Max Gradel and Wilfried Zaha in their 4-1 success, while the likes of Nicolas Pepe and Jonathan Kodjia are also aiming to cause problems for the opposition. They managed to qualify thanks to scoring 12 goals across their six matches. After their display in their final group game, we expect another good night for the Elephants’ forwards.

Meanwhile, Mali come into this clash having seen both teams score in five of their last six games. They scored 10 times in qualifying, but they’ve kept only two clean sheets in their last 14 matches at the Africa Cup of Nations. With two strong attacking sides going head to head here, we expect plenty of goals in this clash. Both teams to score is our pick for Monday’s meeting.