Algeria vs Egypt Prediction: A high goal scoring contest expected

Egypt and Algeria, two of the most powerful nations in Africa, will compete against one another in a friendly international match at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium on Monday evening. Both of these teams finished in first place in the qualifying groups for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, ensuring that they will compete in the most prestigious event on the African continent, which will take place in January in Ivory Coast.

The Greens were in action during the week, but they made considerably lighter work of their opponents. At Stade Mohamed-Hamlaoui, they scored five goals against Cape Verde while only allowing one goal to be scored against them. Houssem Aouar, a midfielder for Roma, continued his strong form by scoring a brace in less than three minutes in the first half. Mohammed Amoura, Ramiz Zerrouki, and Islam Slimani were all able to score for Algeria, while Houssem Aouar was able to extend his scoring streak. The team managed by Djamel Belmadi is now unbeaten in their previous seven matches across all competitions. One of those victories came against Senegal last month, when they prevailed 1-0. The team has only lost one of their last 13 matches. However, playing against the Pharaohs is never an easy match, and the Greens will be aware that a victory on enemy territory will add to the momentum they have been building up leading up to the CAF World Cup qualifiers, which are set to begin the following month.

Egypt comes into this match following a midweek contest against Zambia, in which they narrowly prevailed in a hard-fought 1-0 victory, with the game-winning goal coming in the 94th minute of play. Egypt, although having a reasonably seasoned team and being the more dominant side over the course of the play, was unable to break down the strong defense of Zambia until Hamdi Fathi made a late dash into the opposing box and went up to head home the winner in the final minute of stoppage time. The only time the Pharaohs have been defeated in their past 10 matches in all competitions was when they played Tunisia a few weeks ago. With this victory, the Pharaohs have improved their record to an impressive nine wins in their last 10 encounters. The team coached by Rui Vitoria has not been defeated in either of their most recent two matches against this opponent. Their most recent matchup, which took place in the FIFA Arab Cup in 2021, ended in a 1-1 tie. The Egyptians have an incredible home record, having won 10 of their previous 11 matches at home while also posting an impressive nine clean sheets over that span of time.

In the history of all contests, these two North African rivals have met each other a total of 24 times. Algeria hold the upper hand in the head-to-head record, with a lead of 10-7 in wins and seven games ending in a draw between the two teams. Egypt has not been defeated by their Western competitors in their last two matchups; in fact, their most recent matchup in the FIFA Arab Cup in 2021 ended in a 1-1 draw between the two teams. In the most recent four matches between them, there were fewer than 2.5 goals scored in three of those matches. Algeria has gone seven games without suffering a loss in all competitions, compiling five victories in that span. During that time span, there have been four games with fewer than 2.5 goals scored. Egypt, on the other hand, is undefeated in their last seven games across all competitions, winning nine of those games while keeping seven clean sheets. Egypt has a 7-2 scoring advantage over Algeria in their most recent four meetings.

The Pharaohs are coming into this match in strong form, having won nine of their previous ten contests. They have been victorious in ten of their last twelve exhibition matches. It's interesting to note that they haven't won any of the three friendly matches they've played against Algeria so far. The Desert Warriors have won 19 of their previous 20 friendlies and have only lost once over that span. They have only one victory over their eastern opponents in the last four matches that they have played against each other, and they will be looking to improve upon that record in this matchup. Both teams possess formidable rosters, but Algeria's depth in the offensive third gives them the upper hand. In light of this, we anticipate the 2019 AFCON winners to pull out a victory by the narrowest of margins.