Mali managed to win their only warm up friendly ahead of the African Cup of Nations 2-1 against Burkina Faso last Saturday, with that result making it three wins, one draw, and one defeat from their last six matches in all competitions.

Their qualification campaign was actually very good though, with them dropping just two points in their six matches and topping the group by five points over Benin below them. To be fair they did have a rather easy group, but it was still an impressive display.

Egypt have one major up and coming talent in Stoke midfielder Ramadan Sobhi, but they also have Mohamed Salah up front. The Roma striker notched five goals in qualifying and has scored 27 times in his 46 appearances for Egypt.

He has also managed eight goals in Serie A this season, so backing him to score anytime at 13/8 looks the best choice for our goalscorer predictions.

Team News

Egypt – will be defending a proud Africa Cup of Nations record when they kick off their 2017 campaign against Mali in Port-Gentil on Tuesday.

The Pharaohs have won the competition on each of their last three appearances in 2006, 2008 and 2010 and hold the overall record of seven titles.

Egypt have not qualified for the three editions since, but are back this time around after topping a tough qualifying group that included Nigeria.

Ghana will be keen to start the tournament on a high as they chase their first trophy since 1982, with Uganda back after a lengthy absence.

it will be dejavu from the 1978 finals in Accra where the two last met at Afcon. For Uganda it’s taken them almost four decades to return to the big dance, while the other team Ghana, has been an ever present danger to the rest of Africa. So it is ironical, especially for Uganda, that the Black Stars will once again be their opponents in Gabon. Place your bet with the champions on NaijaBet.com

Ghana are one of the tournament’s most decorated nations, with only Egypt having bettered their tally of four AFCON triumphs.

Team News

Ghana – hosted and won the Cup of Nations in 1963 and 1978 and also triumphed in 1965 in Tunisia and 1982 in Libya. Uganda came closest to glory in 1978 by finishing runners-up.

The Black Stars of Ghana are ranked ninth in Africa and 54th in the world.

Gyan is still missing a major trophy to cap his international career, however the 31-year-old is not only his country’s most-capped player, but also leads the Black Stars’ all-time goalscoring charts.

Uganda – Experienced attacker Geofrey Massa might remain Uganda’s biggest name in attack, but there is no denying Miya is the man to watch for the future.

They had to settle for second spot in their qualification section behind Burkina Faso, but pipped Botswana and Comoros to second place and booked their ticket for the finals in Gabon as one of the two best runners-up.

This is the first AFCON for Uganda manager Milutin Sredojevic

Matct Facts

This is Ghana’s 21st AFCON participation, a tally only bettered by Egypt (23) and Ivory Coast (22).

Ghana are the only team to have reached the semi-finals in each of the last five AFCON tournaments.

Uganda have lost 12 of their 16 AFCON games,winning three, draw one and lost one in their last five games.

Andre Ayew scored three goals and delivered two assists in six games at the 2015 AFCON, the joint-highest goal involvement alongside Wilfried Bony.

Uganda last qualified for the AFCON in 1978, when they were beaten 2-0 in the final by Ghana.

NaijaBet Odds

As at this post Ghana has 1.72 odd to win the match on NaijaBet while Uganda has 5.79 odd to win the match also, while the odd to draw the match is 3.19.