Black Antelopes square off with Stallions

Angola will face off against Burkina Faso at the Stade de Yamoussoukro on Tuesday evening in their final round of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) group stages.

 Kick-off is at 10pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)

The successful team of Tuesday’s fixture will finish as the winner of Group D.

CURRENT FORM

The Black Antelopes started off their campaign with a memorable 1-1 draw against highly-rated Algeria and they picked up their first win of the tournament on Saturday, dramatically beating Mauritania 3-2.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso grabbed a narrow 1-0 win over Mauritania in their group opener and then played to a 2-2 draw against Algeria.

Angola and Burkina Faso are sitting at first and second in the group standings respectively with four points each.

TEAM NEWS

Adam Guira will be a doubt for the Stallions having come off the pitch with an injury scare in the first half against Algeria.

The Black Antelopes’ Gelson Dala has found the back of the net in his last six matches for both club and country and will most probably retain his spot in the starting line-up.

WHAT WAS SAID?

Angola head coach Pedro Gonçalves is looking forward to their next fixture and is eyeing a positive end to the group stages for his impressive players.

“Now we will try to maintain the momentum by seeking qualification in the next round. I would like to pay tribute to my players who gave the best of themselves, while remaining patient. We have a well-defined tactical plan that we will implement for the decisive match against Burkina Faso,” he said ahead of the encounter.

Burkina Faso head coach, Hubert Velud insisted that his team will do one better as they face Angola, after a disappointing result when they drew against Algeria.

“We did what we wanted to do. Very efficient but we could have taken things more seriously in the last minutes. We need to work on the little details then we will come back better,” he said after the game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Gelson Dala: Having scored a brace in Angola’s last fixture, the attacker will be a key member of the squad in terms of bringing in more goals.

Bertrand Traore: Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traore has come off the bench to score twice for the Stallions, which could see him being awarded a spot in the starting XI.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

There have been eight meetings between Angola and Burkina Faso. Both teams have won three games each, with the other two matches ending in draws.

The two last played each other in an Afcon qualifying match in November 2018, which Angola won 2-1.