Mali vs Burkina Faso, African Nations Championship – Preview, Prediction

The Eagles of Mali are one of the most experienced countries at the 2020 African Nation Championship, and they will plan to effectively utilize that when they take on Burkina Faso their Group A opener. Mali have Burkina Faso at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium on Saturday in the tournament.

The local Stallions of Burkina Faso come into this fixture wanting to cause an upset at the Yaounde Omnisport Stadium on Saturday.

Mali are one of two countries to qualify from the Western Zone A, after a 7-0 pounding of Guinea-Bissau and a 2-0 success over Mauritania in the last round of the qualifiers.

They are making their fourth appearance at this competition and will expect to best their 2016 run, where they endured a heartbreaking defeat to DR Congo in the finals.

After managing Stade Malien to six Premiere Division triumphs, Nouhoum Diane was named head coach and entrusted with leading Mali to their first-ever CHAN title.

Djigui Diarra and Issaka Samake are the stars of the Eagles after their electrifying trips in the qualifiers, and the Mali allies will trust the Stade Malien pair can keep up their fine form.

Burkina Faso travel to Cameroon as one of the underdogs, after qualifying by the skin of their teeth against Ghana, on account of a 94th-minute strike from Stephane Pognongo.

Previous Burkina Faso Under-17 head coach Seydou Zerbo is responsible for the local Stallions, who try to advance from the group stage for the first time in the competition’s history.

They made sure about a 2-0 success against the Mena of Niger in a friendly fixture at the Yaounde Annex One Stadium, and this should serve as momentum support going into their Group A matches.

Stade Malien are the most dominant clubs in the Malian league, and Nouhoum Diane has welcomed a lot of players from the Bamako-based outfit, including Djigui Diarra, Desse Sissoko, and Mamaye Coulibaly, to give some examples.

AS Real forward Moussa Kone is relied upon to initiate the Eagles assault after the 29-year-old sacked three objectives in the passing stage.

Issaka Samake is additionally an energizing ability to pay special mind to, as the 25-year-old defender is demonstrated to be solid at the two finishes of the pitch.

Then again, experienced shot-stopper Babayoure Sawadogo and AS Sonabel expert Mohamed Lamine Ouattara have both been summoned by the Stallions of Burkina Faso.

Stephane Pognongo was the legend at the qualifiers with his late strike against Ghana, and head coach Seydou Zerbo will at present depend on the 30-year-old to lead his attack.

Mohamed Magassouba’s Mali compete having defeated both Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania in the final qualifying rounds.

The Eagles, who are making their fourth appearance in the competition, will be hoping to arrive at the last similar as in 2016 where they were defeated by DR Congo.

Seydou Zerbo’s Burkina Faso advance to this stage of the competition following Stephane Pognongo’s injury-time victor over Ghana in the qualifiers and are the underdogs.

Mali vs Burkina Faso Prediction

This is a competition that has just players contending in their nations of origin, so the teams are a long way from their most extreme strength, particularly those for certain stars playing outside the African continent, as is the situation of the Mali team.

Mali vs Burkina Faso with authentic goals to guarantee the qualification for the next stage. In Group A, Nouhoum Diané’s team will contend close by Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Zimbabwe, consequently having the theoretical “obligation” to push ahead in the competition.

The last matches played by the Mali team, at a fairly atypical time and with the schedule exceptionally unfilled because of the paralysis brought about by the pandemic, were last November when the team got back to the official competition a year later.

Mali recorded two successes against Namibia, one of them by 1-0 at home and another by 2-1 away from home, both concerning the qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Burkina Faso national team doesn’t have incredible theoretical chances for success of getting their passport stamped to push ahead in the competition, however, they will definitly attempt to exalt their performance, even because this is a competition questioned in an alternate format.

Alongside Cameroon, Mali, and Zimbabwe, the team led by the coach Seydou Zerbo will attempt to challenge the odds in Group A of the African Nations Championship.

With just four matches played in 2020, Burkina Faso have not lost for seven straight matches since October 2019.

Last November, in the qualifying matches for the Africa Cup of Nations, Burkina Faso played two matches against Malawi succeeding at home by 3-1 and drawing away from home at 0-0.

The Stallions of Burkina Faso are desperate to make the knockout stage this year, yet they face an overwhelming assignment against a Mali side that scored nine and surrendered one goal in two games in the qualifiers. Mali ought to have the option to emerge from this fixture with a successful solid.