AFCON 2021: Egypt vs Morocco; a derby for the ages
It will be an all-North African affair at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo as Egypt and Morocco battle for a place in the semifinals of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations today.
The Pharaohs needed penalties to see off Ivory Coast in the last round after the two teams failed to score in 120 minutes of football. Mohamed Salah held his nerve to score the winning spotkick and send his side into the quarterfinal.
Achraf Hakimi was the star of the show for Morocco in the previous round. The Atlas Lions needed to come from behind against Malawi, who took a shock lead in their Round of 16 fixture. Youssef El Nesyri equalized on the stroke of halftime before Hakimi sent the Atlas Lions through with a stunning freekick.
The Atlas Lions of Morocco are bidding for their first Afcon title since 1976 as against the Pharaohs of Egypt who are on a quest for a record-extending eighth Afcon title.
This will be the 30th meeting between the two sides and Morocco have been vastly superior to their sub-regional rivals.
The Atlas Lions have 14 wins to their name while 12 matches in the past have ended in a share of the spoils. Egypt were victorious on just three occasions.
Match Facts
This will be the seventh Africa Cup of Nations encounter between Egypt and Morocco, with Morocco winning three of the previous six (D1 L2), although Egypt won the most recent such match, in the quarter-finals in 2017 (1-0).
Egypt has won each of their last four quarter-final matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, having progressed in just one of their previous five such games in the competition (L4).
Morocco have won six of their last eight Africa Cup of Nations matches (D2), scoring in every game in this run – they’re looking to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since finishing runners-up to Tunisia in 2004.
Egypt have conceded just seven goals in their 20 games at the Africa Cup of Nations since 2010 (W14 D3 L3), keeping 14 clean sheets – only Gambia this year have conceded fewer goals per game (0.25, 1/4) than the Pharoah’s in that time (0.35).
Morocco’s Romain Saiss has accumulated an expected goals tally of 1.99 from his five attempts at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the highest xG of any player who’s yet to score in this year’s competition.
Team News
Egypt could be without the services of 28-year-old midfielder Hamdi Fathi, who is a doubt after he was brought off midway through the game against Ivory Coast through injury.
Should the Al Ahly man fail to recover in time for the game, his replacement Zizo could come into the mix for his first starting appearance at the tournament.
The Pharaohs will also take to the pitch without Akram Tawfik as the 24-year-old has been out of action since picking up an injury in the opening game against Nigeria.
Mustafa Mohamed, Omar Marmoush and Salah have started each of their four games so far and we expect to see the trio combine at the attacking end of the pitch once again on Sunday.
On the back of an outstanding display against Malawi last time out, Halilhodzic could name a similar side against the Pharaohs, meaning we could see an attacking duo of Ayoub El Kaabi and En-Nesyri once again.
Hakimi put on a clinic in the aforementioned game and we expect to see the Paris Saint-Germain full-back team up with Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd and Adam Masina at the defensive end of the pitch.
Having recently recovered from an injury, Queens Park Rangers midfielder Ilias Chair returned to the fold last time out when he was an unused substitute.
Egypt Predicted XI (4-3-3): Gabaski (GK); Ayman Ashraf, Ahmed Hegazy, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Omar Kamal; Mohamed Elneny, Amr Al-Sulaya, Abdallah El-Said; Mohamed Salah, Omar Marmoush, Mostafa Mohamed
Morocco Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Yassine Bounou (GK); Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd, Adam Masina; Sofyan Amrabat; Tarik Tissoudali, Selim Amallah, Imran Louza, Sofiane Boufal; Ayoub El Kaabi
Prediction
Egypt have been one of the most compact teams in the competition and this defensive resoluteness will be put to the test against a Moroccan side that has been expansive.
Historical rivalry also increases the stakes involved and both sets of players are likely to give their all to secure progress to the last four.
Egypt have progressively gotten better in the tournament while Morocco have been one of the best teams so far.
Egypt 1-1 Morocco
