All roads lead to the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium in Abidjan as Nigeria vs Ivory Coast square off against each other on Sunday February 11.
As both teams contend with each other for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2023) title, it'll be interesting to see who emerges victorious at the end of this match.
We'll provide three Nigeria vs Ivory Coast predictions for the AFCON final in this article.
Nigeria vs Ivory Coast predictions
Nigeria's Super Eagles are on a quest to win their fourth Nations Cup title. The last time they hoisted an AFCON title was in South Africa in 2013.
On the other hand, Ivory Coast are eyeing their third title, and their first since 2015.
Prediction 1: Nigeria to win
We'll kick off our Nigeria vs Ivory Coast predictions by backing the Super Eagles to win.
For one, José Peseiro's men already defeated Ivory Coast in the group stages of this tournament.
Also, the Super Eagles are the only team that's yet to lose at AFCON 2023. They are currently on a five-match winning streak, with just one goal conceded in that stretch.
Although Ivory Coast have faced some tough opposition en route to the final, it's worth mentioning that they've actually won just one of their last five matches at the end of regulation time.
Emerse Faé's troops lost two of three group games, and they needed at least 120 minutes in order to win two of three knockout games.
On that note, we are leaning towards Nigeria for the victory.
Prediction 2: At least one team will fail to score
We would like to point out that no team has conceded fewer goals than Nigeria at AFCON 2023. The Super Eagles saw their defence breached just once in their last five matches, and that goal came from a penalty.
Given how solid Nigeria have been defensively, it's no surprise that their matches have mostly been one-sided in goal-scoring terms, as both teams managed to score in just one of their last five matches.
In like manner, at least one team blanked in four of Ivory Coast's last six games.
Taking everything into account, we shouldn't expect goals at both ends.
Prediction 3: Under 2.5 total goals
For our final Nigeria vs Ivory Coast prediction, let's take a look at the over/under goals market.
We've established that the Super Eagles have had the best defence at this tournament, and with that in mind, they've been involved in a lot of low-scoring games.
As a matter of fact, Nigeria's last nine matches across all competitions went south of the 2.5 goal marker.
Similarly, Ivory Coast have seen their fair share of low-scoring matches. They've played six games so far, and four of those featured less than three goals.
On that note, we don't think these teams will score up to three goals between them.
This article was most recently revised and updated 10 months ago
