African powerhouses Egypt and Algeria will square off in an international friendly at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium on Monday evening.
Both these sides secured the top spot in their respective 2023 AFCON qualifying groups, ensuring their qualification for the continent's biggest tournament scheduled to be held in Ivory Coast in January.
Match preview
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Egypt come into this match following a midweek encounter against Zambia, where they just about managed to secure a hard-fought 1-0 victory, with the winning goal coming in the 94th minute.
Sporting a relatively experienced squad and despite being the more dominant over the course of the match, Egypt struggled to break down the resilient Zambian defence until Hamdi Fathi made a late surge into the opposing box and got up to head home the winner in the final minute of stoppage time.
With that result, the Pharaohs have now taken their record to an impressive nine wins in their last 10 matches in all competitions, with their only loss in that time coming against Tunisia last month.
Rui Vitoria's side are unbeaten in their last two matches against this opponent, with their last meeting ending in a 1-1 draw in the FIFA Arab Cup back in 2021.
The Egyptians will start this match as the favourites owing to their excellent home record of 10 wins in their last 11 home games, while they have also kept an impressive nine clean sheet in that time.
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Meanwhile, despite these sides being among the highest-ranked on the African continent according to FIFA, this will be the first time they meet in a friendly match since 1997, and Algeria will be looking for their first win over this opponent in Egypt.
The Greens were also in action in midweek but made much lighter work of their opponents, smashing five goals past Cape Verde at Stade Mohamed-Hamlaoui while conceding just one.
Mohammed Amoura, Ramiz Zerrouki and Islam Slimani all got on the scoresheet for the Algerians, while Roma midfielder Houssem Aouar continued his good form by scoring a brace in less than three minutes in the first half.
Djamel Belmadi's side are now unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions, including beating Senegal 1-0 last month, and have only suffered defeat once in their last 13 matches.
Still, facing the Pharaohs is never an easy match and the Greens will know that a victory on enemy territory will add to their already solid momentum heading into the CAF World Cup qualifiers scheduled to get underway next month.
Team News
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Mohamed Elneny has not played a single minute of football for his club side Arsenal this season and was hauled off just after halftime against Zambia, which could mean he is not yet at full fitness.
If Elneny is unable to feature here, Ahmed Sayed is the most likely replacement and will line up alongside Fathi in the Egyptian engine room.
Up front, the combination of Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Mohamed and Trezeguet are expected to start this match, although Omar Marmoush looked lively after coming off the bench against Zambia and will be hoping for a starting 11 spot in this one.
Algeria are expected to remain unchanged after their dominant performance in their last match, with Aouar, Zerrouki, and Riyad Mahrez making up the midfield trio in a 4-3-3 formation.
Amine Gouiri was the only forward who failed to get on the scoresheet in the last match, although his hold-up play was exceptional and should have been enough to see him keep his spot between Amoura and Slimani.
Egypt possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Gabr, Abdelmonem, Fotouh; Hamed, Fathi, Sayed, Hany; Salah, Mohamed, Trezeguet
Algeria possible starting lineup:
Mandrea; Mandi, Touba, Attal, Bensebaini; Aouar, Zerrouki, Mahrez; Amoura, Gouiri, Slimani
We say: Egypt 1-1 Algeria
This should be a high-quality encounter between two of the best sides in Africa. While the visitors have put up better attacking numbers of late, Egypt's defence has been formidable, conceding just two goals in their last 10 matches. We expect a free-flowing match here but feel that these two African giants will end level at the full-time whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
