Mali vs Equatorial Guinea: Predictions, odds & betting tips

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Mali face Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations, with the west African nation clear favourites to progress against their less experienced opponents.

Mali made it through to the knockout stages after topping their group following two wins and a draw from their opening three matches.

Equatorial Guinea, meanwhile, responded brilliantly to losing their opening match by recording back-to-back 1-0 wins in their subsequent two group clashes to qualify for the last 16 for only the third time in their history.

Mali vs Equatorial Guinea latest odds

Mali won the two most recent meetings between these nations back in 2016 and the Eagles are offered at 4/6 (1.65) with bet365 to record another victory.

Equatorial Guinea, for their part, can be backed at 11/2 (6.50) while the draw is offered at 12/5 (3.40).

Mali vs Equatorial Guinea first goalscorer

Ibrahima Kone has scored in all three of Mali's matches, breaking the deadlock on two occasions and the striker can be backed at 15/4 (4.75) in the first goalscorer market.

The only other player to have scored for Mali in the competition is Amadou Haidara and he can be backed at 16/1 (17.00).

For Equatorial Guinea, former Middlesbrough and Real Sociedad striker Emilio Nsue is the shortest priced player to score first at 12/1 (13.00) while Pablo Ganet, scorer of the only goal of the game against Sierra Leone, is priced at 20/1 (21.00).

Mali vs Equatorial Guinea preview

These two sides have identical defensive records coming into this last-16 clash having both kept two clean sheets and conceded just a solitary goal so far during the tournament.

All of their matches have seen under 2.5 goals and a repeat looks likely, especially given the tendency we have seen for cagey encounters in the knockout stages of the competition.

Looking at the recent records of both sides, low-scoring matches have been extremely common, with each of Equatorial Guinea's last-eight matches seeing fewer than three goals, while 18 of the last 20 games that Mali have contested have seen under 2.5 goals.

Mali vs Equatorial Guinea tips & predictions

Under 2.5 goals is priced at 4/9 (1.44) while combining this selection with both teams to score 'no' sees the odds rise to 8/11 (1.73).

Odds correct at the time of writing. begambleaware.org

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