Morocco vs Ivory Coast preview

January 23, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

The 3-1 victory over Togo saw Morocco seriously improve their qualifying hopes, but the Atlas Lions cannot afford to relax just yet.

The Ivory Coast need to win this game in order to make it to the quarter-finals, while their opponents would probably go though in case of a stalemate.

Morocco national team chiefs have clearly made the right decision in appointing two-time AFCON winner Herve Renard a year ago, and the talented tactician brought instant improvement to the squad.

The Atlas Lions went on to win 7 of next 11 fixtures on all fronts (D4), before losing to Finland in their final warm-up for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Morocco, however, suffered an unexpected defeat to DR Congo in their opening fixture, but the 3-1 triumph over Togo corrected the poor start,

The Atlas Lions showed a great deal of character by coming from a goal behind, with 3-4-3 formation proving a very good option.

Star-studded Morocco side now take on underperforming Ivory Coast in their final group game, with Herve Renard going against the team that he led to the trophy last time out.

The highly rated coach has no selection worries ahead of the high-profile encounter and he should name an unchanged side.

Probable starting line-up (3-4-3): Munir – Saiss, Benatia, da Costa – Dirar, El Ahmadi, Boussoufa, Mendyl – Fajr, Bouhaddouz, El Kaddouri.

Ivory Coast were widely regarded as perennial underachievers until Herve Renard finally led them to the AFCON trophy in Equatorial Guinea, but they are again experiencing the same problems.

The team that won the country its second AFCON title has undergone some changes under Michel Dussuyer, and even though they are unbeaten in last 14 games, things are not going according to the plan.

Ivory Coast have yet to record the first win at this year’s competition having shared spoils with Togo and DR Congo, twice coming from behind to earn a 2-2 draw in their previous match.

Wilfried Bony scored on his return to the starting line-up, while Serey Die continues the impressive run of performances to make it 2-2.

Just like his predecessor and next opponent, Michel Dussuyer is unlikely to make major changes to his starting line-up, although Salomon Kalou could be recalled.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Gbohouo – Aurier, Bailly, Kanon, Traore – Doukoure, Die, Kessie – Zaha, Bony, Kalou.

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