Two familiar foes will take the field as Nigeria and Angola go head-to-head at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium on Friday. Which of these teams will be left standing at the end of this clash?
Nigeria vs Angola predictions
Before we proceed with our Nigeria vs Angola predictions, let's provide a quick background on both sides.
Nigeria's Super Eagles are now the highest-ranked team at this tournament after the six teams ranked above them were knocked out.
José Peseiro‘s men are now the favourites to win the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2023). They are on a quest to win their fourth continental title, and their first since 2013.
On the other hand, Angola have never made it past the quarter-finals of the Nations Cup, so they'll have a chance to make history if they beat the Super Eagles.
These teams will square off against each other for the 11th time on Friday.
On that note, these are our Nigeria vs Angola predictions:
Prediction 1: Nigeria to win
To be fair, Angola have been a tough team to beat lately. They've won three matches in a row, and have no losses in their last eight games.
However, it's worth mentioning that Angola's victories came against Namibia, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. Compared to these sides, Nigeria will be a tougher nut to crack.
Interestingly, prior to that three-match winning run, the Palancas Negras had no wins in seven games. While they've had a solid run, Nigeria's Super Eagles will be their toughest challenge yet.
Nigeria, on the other hand, have beaten teams like Ivory Coast and Cameroon at this tournament.
Unlike Angola, who have never played in an AFCON semi-final, the Super Eagles have reached the semi-finals more than any other team in the continent.
That said, our first Nigeria vs Angola prediction is a victory for the Super Eagles.
Prediction 2: One team will fail to score
Our second Nigeria vs Angola prediction is on the BTTS market.
Not only have the Super Eagles strung up a three-match winning streak, they've also had arguably the best defence at AFCON 2023.
As a matter of fact, Peseiro's troops did not concede a single goal in their last three games.
Bearing that in mind, most of Nigeria's recent matches were one-sided in terms of goals, as both teams managed to score in just one of their last five games.
In the same vein, Angola kept clean sheets in their last two matches, and did not concede in five of their last seven games across all competitions.
For this reason, we shouldn't expect goals at both ends.
Prediction 3: Under 2.5 goals
Given that these teams don't concede plenty of goals, it's no surprise that their recent matches have mostly been on the low-scoring side.
On one hand, Angola saw six of their last eight matches go below the 2.5 goal line, with three of those games ending goalless.
Likewise, all of Nigeria's games at this tournament featured less than three goals. This was also the case with their last seven matches in all competitions.
Taking everything into account, we are fairly confident that this will be a low-scoring affair. With that in mind, our last Nigeria vs Angola prediction is under 2.5 total goals.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago
