AFCON: Why Mane’s Senegal will beat Salah’s Egypt before GW24
Two of Africa’s biggest footballers will clash this weekend in the final of the continent’s grand showpiece. All eyes will be on Sadio Mane (£11.7m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) when Senegal and Egypt battle for the Africa Cup of Nations title.
The final takes place four days before Liverpool’s Gameweek 24 fixture against Leicester City, potentially meaning the pair could feature for the Reds according to analysis carried out by https://www.kingjohnnie.info/en. But before that, Salah and Mane will be on different sides.
Senegal were the first to reach Yaoundé. Mane had a memorable showing against Burkina Faso with a goal and two assists. Abdou Diallo and Idrissa Gueye were also on target.
“It shows you the momentum we have,” Mane said after the match. “We knew it was not going to be at all easy to get to two straight AFCON finals, but the most important for us now is to go all the way and win it, whoever we come up against.
“We were up against a really good Burkina side who caused us a lot of problems. We expected a tough game, and it was, but we stayed calm and created lots of chances. I think we deserved to win tonight.”
Indeed,Alou Cisse’s side has slowly imposed themselves in Cameroon. After a difficult opening victory over Zimbabwe, the Terenga Lions managed successive barren draws.
Mane fired his country to a 2-0 victory over Cape Verde in the last 16. Although not on target, he was pivotal in the 3-1 win over Equitorial Guinea in the quarterfinal. The Liverpool attacker put up a masterclass in the semis.
Egypt’s road to the final hasn’t been smooth either. The Pharaohs needed penalties twice against Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Built around Salah, the record winners have shown tactical astuteness and ruggedness.
Salah, who loves (alledegly!) a game from uk real money casinos, scored just twice against Guinea Bissau but has been his country’s most important player. Egypt has found the net four times with the Reds superstar burying two and lacing another. But Senegal should be too strong for the North Africans.
After losing the last edition to Algeria, Alou Cisse has continued to build his team. The continent’s highest ranked nation, the Lions of Terenga have a galaxy of stars and are not overly dependent on Mane.
Unlike Egypt, they have depth. When things go wrong, Cisse can call up any of his big name substitute to change things. His team will also benefit from an extra day rest while the Pharaohs could be exhausted having played 120 minutes twice in seven days.
