Sunday Africa Cup of Nations predictions: Cape Verde can justify favouritism

Best bets and analysis for Sunday's matches in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Where to watch

Ethiopia v Cape Verde
Sky Sports Football, 7pm

Cameroon v Burkina Faso
Sky Sports Main Event & Football, 4pm

Best bets

Cape Verde 7pm
1pt 10-11 Betfair, Betfred, Hills

Cameroon to win & under 2.5 goals 4pm
1pt 15-8bet365

Sunday betting preview

It has been a long time coming but the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is set to start this weekend after two postponements.

The first day of action is focused on Group A with hosts Cameroon welcoming Burkina Faso to the Olembe Stadium before Ethiopia, who are 137th in the Fifa rankings, take on Cape Verde, who are playing in only their third Afcon tournament.

Ethiopia v Cape Verde

Despite a lack of Afcon experience, Cape Verde will be among the teams hoping to capitalise on a format which sees the four best third-placed teams progress from the group stage in this tournament.

They will recognise that Cameroon and Burkina Faso are the strongest teams in this group but will rightly fancy their chances of getting the better of Ethiopia.

Former Lille winger Ryan Mendes is an exciting player and can cause plenty of problems in the final third but their rearguard was also sturdy in qualification as they won two and drew four of their six matches, conceding only three times in the process.

Ethiopia, meanwhile, have managed only one victory in their last six competitive assignments, meaning they have missed out on a spot in the 2022 World Cup, and, although they won, they were pushed close by minnows Sudan in their recent 3-2 friendly victory.

Having reached the quarter-finals of this tournament back in 2013, Cape Verde will again be looking to cause a stir in Cameroon and are worth backing to come out on top against Ethiopia.

Cameroon v Burkina Faso

Under the stewardship of Antonio Conceicao, Cameroon have liked playing high-intensity, attacking football but they are unlikely to blow away a tricky Burkina Faso side in their Afcon opener.

Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko Ekambi and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting make up a power-packed attack for the tournament hosts but it is worth remembering this is a competition renowned for low-scoring matches - Afcon 2019 produced an average of only 1.96 goals per game.

And given Burkina Faso's six qualifying matches produced a total of only eight goals, this could be another tight affair.

Home advantage will not be as big a factor for Cameroon as many may think with such a small proportion of the country's population meeting the vaccination requirements to attend matches, while their games are also limited to 80 per cent capacity.

That said, Cameroon have a strong spine with Andre Onana returning between the sticks and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa set to boss the midfield for the Indomitable Lions.

They have won five of their last six matches - all of which were competitive World Cup 2022 qualifying encounters - and they can come out on top against Burkina Faso, albeit by a slender margin.

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