There have been very few goals in the tournament so far but James Eastham is expecting more excitement as the second round of group games kicks-off on Thursday…
“Burkina Faso played well for periods in losing 2-1 to Cameroon. They conceded both goals from the penalty spot, and will draw confidence from having kept a clean sheet in open play.” Best Bet: Back Burkina Faso to beat Cape Verde @ 2.56/4
Cameroon vs Ethiopia (Group A)
Wed, 16:00 GMT,
Live on Sky Sports
Hosts too strong for Ethiopia
Looking to make it two wins from two, Cameroon are a good bet to beat Ethiopia on Thursday afternoon.
The Indomitable Lions needed two Vincent Aboubakar penalties to see off Burkina Faso (2-1) in their opening game but produced a good all-round performance and deserved the three points.
We backed Cameroon in our pre-tournament preview to win the entire thing. Their price has come in from 10.09/1 to 8.07/1 since before the tournament began.
There’s a good balance and purpose about this Cameroon side, and they should be far too strong for their opponents.
Ethiopia lost 1-0 vs Cape Verde in their opening game. Playing with 10 men for 80 minutes made life harder for Ethiopia, but they would have struggled anyway.
With Cameroon 1.261/4 to collect all three points there are better ways to back the hosts on the markets.
Cameroon/Cameroon on the Half Time/Full Time market is 1.758/11. Cameroon started strongly in their 2-1 win over Burkina Faso, scoring both goals before half-time.
Backing Cameroon to secure a low-scoring win’s another option. The tournament has been remarkably low-scoring so far, with eight of nine games to date featuring no goals or one goal.
On the Winning Margin market on the Sportsbook you can back Cameroon to win by exactly 1 goal at 3.211/5 and Cameroon to win by exactly 2 goals at 3.412/5. Splitting your stakes across these two selections may be a smarter way of supporting Cameroon if you fancy them to win.
Burkina Faso to bounce back well
Cape Verde vs Burkina Faso (Group A)
Wed, 19:00 GMT
With three points on the board already, Cape Verde would seal their Last-16 place with another win here. Burkina Faso are already under pressure after their opening-game loss.
Burkina Faso are 2.56/4 favourites. Their favouritism makes sense when you look at the strength of their side: they have better players than Cape Verde in most areas of the pitch.
Burkina Faso played well for periods in losing 2-1 to Cameroon. They conceded both goals from the penalty spot, and will draw confidence from having kept a clean sheet in open play.
At 2.56/4, Burkina Faso are worth considering to win the game.
Away from the Match Odds market, this may be a game that bucks the tournament’s low-scoring trend.
Cape Verde have scored in nine of 10 internationals since the start of 2021. They have found the net against some of the continent’s better sides, such as Nigeria. Both teams scored in six of those 10 fixtures.
Burkina Faso have scored in nine of 11 fixtures during the same time frame. They’re more adept at keeping clean sheets – they have done so in seven of those 11 games – but the defensive mistakes they made vs Cameroon are a concern.
Given the scoring records of both teams and the defensive mistakes Burkina Faso made against Cameroon, ‘Yes’ in the Both teams to score? market at 2.47/5 is worth considering.
PREM WATCH
As they look to reach the knockout phase, Burkina Faso will hope for a big performance from star man Bertrand Traore. The Aston Villa attacker, who has 12 goals in 59 international appearances, is 7/2 in the Anytime Goalscorer market.
No other Premier League-based players are on duty in Thursday’s two games.
Source: BetFair Tips
