Africa Cup of Nations final preview: Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah go head-to-head

We started with 24 nations and now, after a thrilling month of football, we’re down to the final two in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ahead of Sunday’s crunch final between Senegal and Egypt, we’ve previewed the action and taken a look at the best bets on offer.

Senegal out to make history

The first side to book their place in Sunday’s showpiece event was Senegal, who are out to create history. No Senegal side has ever gone on to win the Africa Cup of Nations, with the nation experiencing runners-up heartbreak on two separate occasions, including when losing in the final last time out in 2019 as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Algeria.

The other final loss came 20 years ago back in 2002 when current head coach Aliou Cisse missed a spot-kick as Senegal lost to Cameroon in a penalty shoot-out. Cisse, then, will be as determined as anyone on Sunday to ensure the Lions of Teranga are lifting the trophy come full-time.

Senegal stuttered through the group stage, winning just once and labouring to two 0-0 draws against Guinea and Malawi, scoring just one goal across their three matches. Since then, however, three wins from three have followed along with eight goals in that time, meaning Cisse’s men have hit form at just the right time.

They have, of course, been inspired by their talisman Sadio Mane, who has top-scored for the nation with three goals as well as two assists in his six appearances, while Marseille forward Bamba Dieng has also played a pivotal role with two key goals in the knockout rounds.

With Senegal seemingly hitting their stride at the right time, they head into the weekend’s game as the 11/10 favourites.

Salah the man to inspire Egypt?

Standing in Senegal’s way, though, will be Egypt – the most successful nation in Africa Cup of Nations history. The Pharaohs have won a stunning seven continental titles over the years, but their last triumph came 12 years ago back in 2010. Mohamed Salah and Co. are looking to bring the good times back for the nation.

It’s not been easy watching for Egypt fans along the way. Kicking off their group-stage campaign with defeat to Nigeria, they required tight 1-0 wins against Guinea-Bissau and Sudan to seal their progress to the knockout stages. Since then it hasn’t got much easier, with Egypt needing two penalty shootouts along the way, including in the semi-finals against hosts Cameroon, which saw manager Carlos Queiroz sent off for dissent.

Egypt did manage to beat Morocco in normal time in the quarter-finals, but even then that was another close 2-1 win, meaning the Pharaohs haven’t defeated a side by more than one goal in the whole tournament, while they have managed just four goals in total from their six games. In that context, it’s understandable why Egypt head into Sunday’s final as the 3/1 underdogs.

Yet it can’t be forgotten that in Salah they have arguably the world’s best player in their ranks and someone capable of changing a game in an instant. While he’s only managed two goals in six games at the tournament, he’ll be more hungry than ever to bring glory home for his nation, while getting one over Liverpool team-mate Mane wouldn’t be a bad thing either. Both teams to score and Egypt to claim victory is priced at 11/1.

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