Both teams started the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations campaign with a win, but neither were too impressive in their opening games. Ghana were very fortunate to beat Botswana, whereas Mali recorded a very important win over Guinea. Taking everything into consideration, I expect to see a very tight game.

Lucky win over Botswana

Ghana managed to establish themselves as one of the strongest national teams in Africa over the years and they have been doing pretty well at major tournaments of late. The Black Stars did brilliantly to reach the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, where they suffered an unlucky defeat to Uruguay. Before that, Ghana finished as runners-up at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, so no wonder the team arrived to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea as one of the main candidates for the trophy. The Black Stars were far from impressive in their opening game against Botswana, but still managed to record a narrow win. First games at major tournaments are always very difficult to play because of the extreme pressure and I now expect the Black Stars to show considerable improvement against Mali. The impressive attacking trio of Asamoah Gyan, Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew should have no problems scoring against Mali, although the back line will be weakened by the absence of John Mensah.

Key defender John Mensah is suspended after seeing red against Botswana, but Asamoah Gyan should be able to recover from an ankle problem.

Mali can do better

Mali are another African national team that have been showing a lot of potential of late, even if they were pretty disappointing at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. However, the 4:4 draw against the tournament hosts went down as one of the most entertaining games in the history of the competition, mostly because the Eagles came from four goals behind by scoring four in the final ten minutes of the game. Having arrived to 2012 AFCON without star players Freddy Kanoute, Momo Sissoko and Mahamadou Diarra, Mali were not given big chances to progress from this group, but the team played a good game against Guinea and managed to record an invaluable win. Ligue 1 stars Modibo Maiga, Cheick Diabate and Bakaye Traore proved they can be very difficult to contain, so I certainly expect Mali to score at least one goal in this match. It remains to be seen whether that will be enough for a positive result.

Boss Alain Giresse has no fresh injury worries, although Mahamadou N’Diaye and Samba Diakite are one yellow card away from suspension.

Verdict

With both Ghana and Mali having more potential than they have shown in their opening games, everything suggests we will see a very entertaining match in Franceville. Both sides boast plenty of attacking potential, but are pretty poor at the back, so both teams to score looks like a good option here.

Our prediction: Both teams to score

Odds: 2.40 (7/5)

Bookmaker: Stan James