Morocco vs. Malawi Prediction: Morocco to progress past the The Flames

Well, we’re well into the round of 16 of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations. Today’s games have been confirmed to be going ahead, after a tragedy unfolded before Cameroon’s game with Comoros. We’re sorry to report that at least eight people died in a stampede, with dozens more injured. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone connected.

There are two games featuring today, and we’ll be focusing on the tie between Morocco and Malawi. Morocco topped Group C, getting seven points from their group which featured Gabon, Ghana and Comoros. Originally around 10/1 to win the tournament before the start of play, they’re now down to as short as 5/1 with some bookmakers.

Malawi qualified from their group as one of the best third place sides in the tournament, and will be fearless coming into their debut knockout game. They’re huge underdogs coming into the game, but having held pre-tournament favourites Senegal to a 0-0 draw, will surely fancy their chances of writing their names into the record books. Malawi are as big as as 13/1 with SBK and Unibet to win this game, but as they’ve shown previously, The Flames are not to be underestimated.

Malawi have scored just two goals so far this tournament, with them both coming against Zimbabwe. Their opening game of the competition saw them lose 1-0 to Guinea, although they respectfully got a 0-0 draw against Senegal. Morocco have seen this bet land in their opening two games of the tournament, beating Ghana and Comoros, and it’s also landed in eight of their last 10 games in all competitions. Sofiane Boufal will be a major threat for The Atlas Lions, having scored two goals in three games so far, including the winner against Ghana. He’s 2/1 to score anytime today, which is an interesting pick for sure, but I’ll feel more confident coming into this game with a small stakes on Morocco to win to nil.

A higher odds choice for our second tip today. Morocco were among the top scorers in the group stages, with only Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon scoring more than them. As previously mentioned, Morocco won to nil in their first two group games, and I believe they’ll look to stamp a mark on this tournament. This bet has landed three times in Morocco’s seven games in all competitions, with them beating Sudan, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau by this scoreline back in the autumn World Cup Qualifiers. I’ve gone for this over the 2-0 purely due to the bigger price here (9/2 for the other), Expect Morocco to progress through with relative ease, and if they can get an early goal, Malawi could be in for a long afternoon.