Having recently qualified for next year's Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon head into the game in sky-high confidence and will be looking to keep the ball rolling.

Match preview

Cameroon's Samuel Gouet, Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Franck Evina after the match in October 2020 © Reuters

Despite failing to pick up a win in their final two qualification games, Cameroon secured top spot in Group F to seal their place in next year's continental tournament.

After claiming 10 points from the opening four games, Toni Conceicao's men suffered a 3-1 defeat away to Cape Verde on March 26 before playing out a bore draw against 10-man Rwanda three days later at the Japoma Stadium.

However, this was followed by a convincing performance in the international friendlies, where they picked up one win and one draw in their two consecutive games against the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The Indomitable Lions, who have qualified for the World Cup more times than any other African country, will feel confident of a dream start in their hunt for a place in Qatar as they face an opposing side who are without a win in their last five games.

Malawi qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations by the skin of their teeth when they secured a hard-earned 1-0 victory over the Cranes of Uganda in their final Group B game on March 29.

With one point separating the sides in the table, Baroka forward Richard Mbulu put in a headline-grabbing performance as he scored the only goal of the game to send the Flames into second place, two points above their East African counterparts.

Meke Mwase's men failed to carry that momentum into the COSAFA Cup, where they suffered a group-stage exit after finishing with two points from four games.

Malawi, who are yet to make an appearance at the World Cup, will be looking to end this poor run and begin their qualification campaign on a good note.

However, they face the stern test of taking on the five-time AFCON champions, who are unbeaten in six of the seven encounters between the sides, claiming three wins and three draws.

Cameroon form (all competitions):

Malawi form (all competitions):

Team News

Cameroon's Stephane Bahoken celebrates scoring their second goal against Guinea-Bissau with teammates on June 25, 2019 © Reuters

Conceicao has named a 28-man squad for the upcoming games against Malawi, Mozambique and Ivory Coast, including Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who recently moved to Napoli on loan from English side Fulham.

With Andre Onana still serving his lengthy suspension, Simon Loti Omossola could start between the sticks on Friday behind a back four of Collins Fai, Jean Claude Billong, Michael Ngadeu and Duplexe Tchamba.

Either of Vincent Aboubakar, who is currently fifth in the nation's all-time scoring charts, and Bayern Munich's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who is ninth, could handle business at the attacking end of the pitch for the Indomitable Lions.

Meanwhile, Malawi have called up 25 players to the national team camp with Las Vegas Lights winger Yamikani Chester returning to the fold after missing the AFCON qualification games against South Sudan and Uganda.

Mwase is expected to stick to his preferred 4-1-4-1 formation, with Richard Mbulu leading the attack after scoring the winners in both of the aforementioned games.

However, the trio of William Thole, Rafiq Namwera and Vitumbiko Kumwenda have been overlooked, having failed to impress at the COSAFA Cup.

Cameroon possible starting lineup:
Omossola; Fai, Billong, Ngadeu, Tchamba; Anguissa, Hongla, Djoum; Ganago, Choupo-Moting, Toko-Ekambi

Malawi possible starting lineup:
Kakhobwe; Sanudi, Mzava, Petro, Cholopi; J Banda; Phiri, Muyaba, P Banda, Nyangulu; Mbulu

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We say: Cameroon 2-0 Malawi

Malawi head into Friday's game after a poor outing at the COSAFA Cup and will be looking to grab a morale-boosting win. However, they have struggled for results against the hosts, picking up just one win from their six previous meetings.

Cameroon boast a superior and more experienced crop of players in their squad and with the support of the local fans, we predict they will come away with all three points.

Top tip

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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 Cameroon win with a probability of 55.59%. A draw had a probability of 25.5% and a win for Malawi had a probability of 18.88%.

The most likely scoreline for a Cameroon win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.64%) and 2-1 (9.14%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.76%), while for a Malawi win it was 0-1 (7.58%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Cameroon would win this match.