Nigeria vs Egypt Odds: Salah to find the net in Group D opener

Two of the big hitters at the African Cup of Nations face off in their opening Group D game on Tuesday afternoon as Nigeria take on Egypt. The game can be seen live on Sky Sports kicking-off at 4:00pm GMT and we’ve asked @AnthonyEadson to preview the game and cast his eye over the betting markets and pick out a couple of selections he likes the look of.

Egypt are the most decorated side in AFCON history, winning the tournament on seven occasions with their last triumph coming back in 2010. The Pharaohs come into this year's renewal in Cameroon as 8/1 joint-third favourites in the betting and with Premier League talent in Mohamed Elneny and Trezeguet, along with one of the best players in world football at the moment in Mo Salah.

Nigeria are currently at a best price of 11/1 with Paddy Power to lift the trophy in 2022 and have a star-studded squad with plenty of talent. The Super Eagles have more UK based players than any other side at the tournament with Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi and William Troost-Ekong all expected to start here.

All eyes will undoubtedly be on Mo Salah as he comes into the tournament with a remarkable 16 goals and nine assists in his first 20 league matches for Liverpool this season. The 29-year-old is in the form of his life and his Egypt side come into the match as the narrow favourites to take the three points priced at 7/4 with bet365. The draw can be backed at 19/10 with Nigeria also being offered at the same price in what could be a tough game to call in the result market.

The first selection I’m recommending for this Group D clash is for Egypt’s Mohamed Salah to find the net anytime in the match. First up I think we are getting a decent price here from both Betfair and Paddy Power with 15/8 implying just 35% chance of this landing. Other firms such Boyle Sports (5/4) and Mansion Bet (6/5) have taken a much more conservative view here and I think the 15/8 looks a nice bit of value.

For club and country this season, Salah has scored 23 goals in the 30 games that he has started. The Egyptian King has found the net in 18 of his 30 matches in 2021/2022 with this selection landing in 60% of the games he has started.

There’s no denying that Salah has been World Class this season and has really cemented his place at football’s top table with him rightly coming into the tournament as the 4/1 favourite to claim the top goalscorer award. A penalty taker for his side and with 45 goals in 73 matches for his country I’m happy to take the 15/8 for the red-hot Salah to get on the scoresheet.

I’ve also dipped my toe into the ‘to be carded’ market for this game from the northern City of Garoua which is the third biggest in Cameroon. Joe Aribo is the player I’m targeting here with 5/1 on offer from bet365, who at the time of writing are the only bookmaker to have this market priced up.

Aribo signed for Rangers in the summer of 2019 and since then has gone on to make 78 league appearances, scoring 16 goals. However, this season the 25-year-old r has been shown a yellow card in five of his 19 starts for Rangers in the league which translates to 0.3 yellows per 90 in 2021/2022. 

The versatile midfielder has also been carded in all three of Rangers’ Europa League campaigns that he has participated in since joining and is averaging a foul per game in the league this term. 5/1 looks a shade too big in my eyes for him to be carded in what will be Nigeria’s toughest game of the group phase. 

Best of luck to anyone following the selections on Tuesday afternoon and as always, please gamble responsibly.