Africa Cup of Nations 2015: Cameroon vs Ivory Coast preview

January 27, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Mali vs Ivory CoastWith all four sides in Group D level on points and goal difference ahead of the final round of fixtures, Cameroon and Ivory Coast will have to make an effort to win their third group fixture if they want to avoid the lottery deciding the two teams to go through.

New-look Indomitable Lions had high hopes ahead of the tournament finals despite being placed in a very strong group.

Cameroon shared spoils with Congo DR and South Africa in the warm-up matches and little did they know that these results would be a sign of things to come.

Two 1-1 draws in friendly games were followed by exactly same results in group fixtures against Mali and Guinea, with Volker Finke’s side coming from a goal behind in the first match before squandering a one-goal lead in the second.

The Indomitable Lions now need to try and defeat star-studded Ivory Coast in order to secure their progress and they can be backed at 3.60 (13/5).

The good news is there are no injury worries for under-fire coach Volker Finke, although midfielder Eyong Enoh continues to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Ondoa – Oyongo, N’Koulou, Chedjou, Bedimo – Loe, Mbia – Moukandjo, Choupo-Moting, Salli – Aboubakar.

Even if they arrive at every Africa Cup of Nations tournament as number one favourites, Ivory Coast rarely manage to live up to the tag.

It appears that not even the 2012 winner Herve Renard was able to prepare his side mentally to cope with the pressure of expectations, seeing as the Elephants largely struggled in the first two games.

We can safely say Ivory Coast were pretty fortunate not to be out of the competition already, although they did well to earn 1-1 draws after coming from behind against both Guinea and Mali.

The Elephants hope to finally hit the ground running when they face Cameroon, with away win paying 2.30 (13/10) at Betfred.

Selection problems continue to mount for coach Herve Renard given that Gervinho serves the final game of his two-match ban.

On top of that, Cheick Tiote is suspended after picking up the second yellow card, while it remains to be seen whether the boss will stick to a three-man defence.

Probable starting line-up (3-4-1-2): Gbohouo – Bertrand, K. Toure, Kanon – Aurier, Diomande, Y. Toure, Tiene – Gradel – Bony, Doumbia.

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