Cape Verde and Liberia square off for the second consecutive game on Sunday at the Stadium Aderito Sena in Group C of the World Cup qualifiers.
Having lost when the sides met two days ago, Peter Butler's men will head into the game seeking to get one over the visitors, while the Blue Sharks will be looking to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Match preview
Cape began their quest for a first-ever World Cup appearance when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Central African Republic on September 1.
The West African side suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Nigeria six days later, when Victor Osimhen's 29th-minute strike and an own goal from Kenny Rocha Santos helped the Super Eagles come from behind to claim all three points.
Knowing more dropped points would be a huge blow to their chances of making it into the final qualifying round, Cape Verde worked their socks off to secure a 2-1 win versus Liberia when the sides met in Accra last Thursday.
After Van Dave Harmon put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half time, Jamiro Monteiro levelled the scores seven minutes after the interval before Olympiacos midfielder Garry Rodrigues grabbed a dramatic 92nd-minute winner to complete the comeback.
That was a first win in three games for Cape Verde who have now risen up to second place in Group C, two points behind Nigeria, who were stunned by a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Central African Republic on Thursday.
Bubista will now push his side to make it two wins from two as they take on an opposing side who are yet to win an away game since 2016, when they saw off Djibouti 1-0 at the El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium.
As for Liberia, the defeat last time out was their second on the trot after they were beaten 2-0 by Egypt in a warm-up friendly game on September 30.
Prior to that, the Lone Stars fell to an opening-day 2-0 loss versus Nigeria on September 2 before claiming a 1-0 win over a resilient Central African Republic side three days later.
Butler's side head into Sunday's game winless in nine of their most recent 10 outings across all competitions, picking up two draws and losing seven in that time.
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
Monteiro and Rodrigues were crucial to the victory last time out after both came off the bench to get on the scoresheet and the duo could be rewarded with a place in the starting XI.
Should that be the case, they could potentially come in at the expense of Carlos Ponck and Willy Semedo in defence and attack respectively.
On the back of his side's underwhelming display last time out, Butler could ring several changes to the Liberia starting lineup.
Having missed the aforementioned game, 28-year-old Alvin Maccornell could return to the fold to provide the needed defensive stability this weekend.
Cape Verde possible starting lineup:
Vozinha; Stopira, Monteiro, Lopes, Furtado; Santos, Paulo; Rodrigues, Andrade, Mendes; Tavares
Liberia possible starting lineup:
Williams; Dorley, Dweh, Maccornell, Balde; Macauley, Njie, Hellberg; Kamara, Sherman, Harmon
We say: Cape Verde 2-0 Liberia
Fresh off the back of picking up a morale-boosting win in Thursday's reverse tie, Cape Verde will head into the game in full confidence as they look to do a group double over the group's lowest-ranked side in the FIFA world rankings.
The visitors are on a horrid run of results away from home and we predict the hosts will take full advantage and make it two wins from two.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Cape Verde win with a probability of 53.36%. A draw had a probability of 24% and a win for Liberia had a probability of 22.61%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cape Verde win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.22%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.71%) and 2-0 (9.54%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.42%), while for a Liberia win it was 0-1 (6.72%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Cape Verde in this match.
