Egypt vs DR Congo Prediction: Draw specialists set for another stalemate?

No Mohamed Salah, no problem for Egypt? The Pharaohs secured their place in the knockout rounds of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-2 draw against Cape Verde on Monday, without any help from their injured talisman, and their reward is a Round of 16 tie against DR Congo on Sunday night (KO, 20:00).

DR Congo booked their place at Stade Laurent Pokou (San Pedro) via a second-place finish in Group F, as three draws were enough to advance ahead of Zambia and Tanzania as runners-up to Morocco.

Egypt and DR Congo haven’t faced each other since the 2019 AFCON, when goals from Salah and Ahmed Elmohamady handed the Leopards a 2-0 defeat in the group stage.

Team News

Salah is out of action for the foreseeable future and there are further problems for Egypt to contend with following the injuries picked up by goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy and midfielder Emam Ashour.

The duo started against Egypt but El Shenawy was forced from the field in the final moments, while Ashour suffered a concussion in training. Gabaski will deputise in goal and Ashour’s place could be taken by Kahraba or Trezeguet, with the latter scoring as a substitute against the Blue Sharks. Zizo would likely drop back into midfield in the case of his inclusion.

Cedric Bakambu missed a penalty in DR Congo’s 1-1 draw with Morocco and was subsequently benched for their final group game against Tanzania, but the 32-year-old striker should return to lead the line on Sunday after the side failed to fire in his absence.

It remains to be seen whether centre-back Henoc Inonga, who was substituted at half-time against Morocco with a head injury, returns to the starting XI.

Match Odds

Egypt are favourites at 13/10 to win the tie in 90 minutes on Sunday, with a victory for DR Congo at 11/5 and the draw – which would send the game to extra-time – priced at 9/5.

Both teams to score in San Pedro is 6/5 while it’s 8/13 for BTTS – No.

Draw and Both Teams To Score – Yes @ 7/2

Egypt and DR Congo both drew all three group games, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this forms half of one suggestion.

Remarkably, Egypt recorded a hat-trick of 2-2 scorelines, with their attack firing but their defence unable to hold firm, which is very unlike the Egyptians.

DR Congo’s scorelines were a bit more steady, as they followed back-to-back 1-1’s versus Zambia and Morocco with a goalless draw against Tanzania.

The Pharaohs are yet to keep a clean sheet while the Leopards only have one to their name, so a score draw to send the tie to extra-time looks like the shout here.

Omar Marmoush to score anytime @ 11/4

The Eintracht Frankfurt forward started the competition on the bench against Mozambique but was handed a start against Ghana and hasn’t looked back.

Marmoush was electric at times against the Black Stars and scored Egypt’s first equaliser in the game before playing the majority of their final group match against Cape Verde.

He should start again on Sunday and looks a decent price to find his second goal of the 2023 AFCON.

Check out the rest of our AFCON Betting Tips here.