Ivory Coast - Nigeria predictions and free betting tips [18/01/2024]

Today, within the second round of the Africa Cup of Nations, two tournament favourites - Ivory Coast and Nigeria - will play.

Ivory Coast national team

As hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Ivory Coast team impressively started the tournament, defeating Guinea-Bissau 2:0. The match, which took place in a tense struggle, saw the first goal from Fofana, receiving a pass from Kessié in the 4th minute, and the second from Jean-Philippe Krasso, who scored in the 58th minute. Ivory Coast dominated the match, controlling the ball 61% of the time and striking 10 shots on target against 4 from the opposition. However, in the last 15 minutes, the "Elephants" relaxed, allowing the opponent to create a few moments. The defence of the Côte d'Ivoire team impresses with its quality, featuring famous players such as veterans Serge Aurier and Willy Boly, as well as new leaders - Odilon Kossounou from Bayer and Ousmane Diomandé from "Sporting". The team also showcases talents such as Ebrima Ndicka from Roma and Wilfrid Singo from Monaco.

The midfield of the Côte d'Ivoire team with the trio Sangaré - Kessié – Fofana is also impressive. Fofana takes charge of the creativity, while Kessié, formerly of Milan and Barça, adds intensity to the attack. The team's main star is Simon Adengra from Brighton; however, he might miss the start of the tournament due to an injury. In attack, there is Sebastien Haller, but he is in poor form, so it will likely be Jean-Philippe Krasso from Red Star Belgrade playing against Nigeria instead.

Ivory Coast also demonstrated excellent results in previous matches, winning convincingly against Sierra Leone 5:1 in a friendly match on 6th January 2024, beating Gambia 2:0 in World Cup qualification on 20th November 2023, and crushing Seychelles 9:0 on 17th November 2023.

Nigeria National Team

Despite having one of the strongest teams in terms of names, Nigeria displayed weak game in the first round of the Africa Cup of Nations, drawing 1:1 with Equatorial Guinea. The team had to make up for a goal from Salvador, which was managed thanks to Victor Osimhen in the 38th minute after receiving a pass from the best player of the match, Lukman. The team's attack, with Iwobi, Simon, Chukwueze, and Onuachu, couldn't make more than 3-4 non-dangerous shots on goal from awkward positions.

The Nigerian team hasn't won four matches in a row and performed poorly in World Cup qualifiers, losing on home ground against Guinea 8th January 2024 in a friendly match 0:2, and the start of the WC-26 qualification was extremely unsuccessful. The "Super Eagles" couldn't beat the weak team of Lesotho at home on 19th November 2023 and drew with Zimbabwe 1:1 on 16th November.

In the defensive midfield, Nigeria has troubles without Ndidi, where either defender Awazim or Onyedika from Brugge plays. Midfielders Frank Onyeka and Joe Aribo, playing in England, are more focused on attack, but so far, it isn't yielding results. In attack, there's Musa, who hasn't been playing for several years now.

Head to Head

In the history of head-to-head matches between Nigeria and Ivory Coast since 2016, there haven't been any matches; however, Nigeria beat Ivory Coast 1:0 on 11th January 2016. On 11th January 2015, Ivory Coast defeated Nigeria with a score of 1:0. On 27th July 2013, Côte d'Ivoire won Nigeria with a score of 2:0.

Prediction for the match Ivory Coast - Nigeria

Nigeria has been playing poorly in the last few months, despite its strongest attack; the hosts from Ivory Coast clearly do not fall short in terms of the team and should show class on home turf, as they did in the first match. However, knowing the African teams, I won't bet on the "Elephants". Instead, I'll take the TO (total over) goals more than 1.5.