Egypt vs Zimbabwe: Match preview, team news, line-ups and prediction | OneFootball

Egypt begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Zimbabwe at the Stade Adrar on Monday.

They are one of the favourites to lift the trophy and will be aiming to begin the tournament with a victory.

Match preview

Egypt will be hoping for inspiration from Mohamed Salah. Head coach Hossam Hassan name-checked him as one of his side’s great players.

The Pharaohs have faced Zimbabwe 15 times, winning nine, drawing four and losing two.

Zimbabwe enter the competition with little expectation, having never progressed beyond the group stage at AFCON.

The Warriors will look to frustrate Egypt by sitting deep and picking their moments to trouble their defence, particularly exploiting the potential spaces left behind by the wing-backs.

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Tawanda Chirewa is one of Zimbabwe’s players to look out for in this fixture.

Team news

Hamdi Fathy is sidelined for Egypt, but Zimbabwe has no injury concerns heading into the fixture.

However, Andy Rinomhota is unavailable for the Warriors, following his release from the squad for personal reasons.

Potential starting line-ups

Egypt (3-4-3): Mohamed El Shenawy, Mohamed Hany, Mohamed Hamdy, Rami Rabia, Mahmoud Saber, Marwan Attia, Mohamed Elneny, Ahmed Abou El Fotouh, Mohamed Salah, Mostafa Mohamed, Omar Marmoush

Zimbabwe (4-4-2): Elvis Chipezeze, Divine Lunga, Teenage Hadebe, Munashe Garan’anga, Godknows Murwira, Daniel Msendami, Jonah Fabisch, Sean Fusire, Bill Antonio, Washington Navaya, Prince Dube.

Prediction

Given their pedigree and quality, we fancy Egypt to win 2-0.

Stats from 11v11.com & whoscored.com.