AFCON: DR Congo vs Guinea Quarter-Final Preview & Odds
Guinea in Rare Position
DR Congo on Draw Streak
Guinea are just one win away from qualifying for just their second-ever Africa Cup of Nations Semifinal. On Friday, they’ll take on DR Congo in an intriguing Quarter-final matchup. DR Congo are on a four-game draw streak, but they took down Egypt in a dramatic penalty shootout to qualify for the quarters.
Meanwhile, Guinea defeated Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in the round of 16 as Mohamed Bayo scored a last-minute winner. We’ll see if some more drama may be on the cards in our DR Congo vs Guinea Quarter-final preview.
⚽ DR Congo vs Guinea ⚽
Day/Time:
Location: Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé, Ebimpé, Ivory Coast
Streaming: Watch Live Sports
Head-to-Head
DR Congo vs Guinea Quarter-final previews note that the DRC are on a four-game unbeaten streak vs Guinea, in all competitions. These sides last met in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying, where DR Congo picked up 2-1 and 3-1 wins over Guinea. This is just the third-ever meeting in the Africa Cup of Nations and the first since 2004. Here, DRC are going for their first win in AFCON over Guinea.
DRC Successfully Avoiding Defeat
While DR Congo still don’t have a 90-minute win in this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, they have successfully avoided defeat in all of their matches.
They’ve drawn all four of their matches so far and most impressively managed to hold tournament favorites Morocco to a 1-1 draw in the group stage. Silas picked an excellent time to score his first goal for DR Congo, as he found the net for a 76th minute equalizer.
DRC also drew vs Zambia and Tanzania in the group stage to finish in second place in Group F. In the round of 16, DR Congo went up against Egypt, and Meschak Elia opened up the scoring for the Leopards.
DR Congo conceded a penalty late in the first half, which Egypt’s Mostafa Mohamed converted. After 120 grueling minutes, the match went into penalties, and DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi scored the winning kick in the shootout.
The African Cup odds currently price the Leopards at +2000 to win their third AFCON title. They do have a talented roster, and the DR Congo frontline is rather strong. Although they’ve only found the net three times in four games, Cedric Bakambu, Yoane Wissa, Elia, Simon Banza, and Silas are all capable of putting the ball in the back of the net.
Guinea Survive Round of 16
Guinea have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup and have not made an Africa Cup of Nations Semifinal since 1976. Despite losing twice to Egypt in Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Guinea finished second in Group D to advance to the final tournament.
Guinea finished 1-1-1 in the group stage and finished in third place in Group D. The “National Elephants” drew 1-1 vs Cameroon, defeated Gambia 1-0 and lost 2-0 to Senegal.
As one of the top four third-placed teams, Guinea advanced to the round of 16, where they took on Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea went down to ten men early in the second half but ended up winning a penalty. AFCON leading scorer Emilio Nsue hit the post, and Mohamed Bayo scored a stoppage-time winner for Guinea.
Bayo, who plays for Le Havre in Ligue 1, has scored two of Guinea’s three goals at AFCON. Guinea do also have prolific striker Serhou Guirassy, who has taken the Bundesliga by storm this season. However, he’s made just two appearances in four AFCON matches so far. Expect him to play a role on Friday.
Match Analysis & Odds
DR Congo vs Guinea Quarter-final previews mention that this is the first-ever Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage meeting between the two sides. This one is expected to be quite a close match and anything could happen come Friday. The soccer betting odds price unbeaten DR Congo as +160 favorites, but they’re yet to win a match in 90-minutes during the tournament.
Meanwhile, Guinea are +210 underdogs and a draw sits at +190 odds. Both AFCON teams have only scored three goals so far in the tournament, and goals could come at a premium. Still, over 1.5, 2 goals display -120 odds for this Quarter-final matchup. Notably, DR Congo have conceded more than one goal in just one of their last 16 internationals.
Bettors can also take DR Congo pk at -130 odds and Guinea pk at +110. With players like Arthur Masuaku and Chancel Mbemba in defense, DR Congo are an experienced side that won’t make anything easy for Guinea.
For soccer betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
