Three points are up for grabs at Stade des Martyrs on Friday evening as Congo DR entertain the challenge of Guinea in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
This is the second meeting between the sides in 2024 after Congo DR ran out emphatic 3-1 winners in the quarter-finals of the most recent AFCON tournament.
Match preview
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Congo DR endured a topsy-turvy AFCON group-stage campaign with three draws from as many matches but managed to secure safe passage into the knockout stages, after which they lost out to eventual champions and host nation Ivory Coast in the last four.
Making amends for their no-show in 2021, that was Les Leopards' best AFCON outing since 2015, when they secured a third-place finish after yet another semi-final exit at the hands of Ivory Coast.
Since their last continental commitment, Sebastien Desabre's men have picked up four points from two World Cup qualifying outings to sit third in Group B, one point adrift of Senegal and a further three behind Sudan.
Unbeaten in front of their fans since a 1-0 defeat to Gabon in June 2022, Congo DR will now set out to kick off their AFCON qualifying journey on a winning note before jetting off to Dar es Salaam to face off against Ethiopia next Monday.
Friday's hosts will heavily fancy their chances of getting the job done against an opposing outfit who have been beaten in each of the last five encounters between the teams dating back to 2005.
Guinea have enjoyed a fairly positive 2024 so far, having recorded six victories from their 10 involvements across all competitions since kicking off the year with a friendly 2-0 win over Nigeria ahead of the AFCON.
Coached by Kaba Diawara at the time, Guinea gave a good account of themselves at the continental showpiece, making it through to the last eight, where their journey would come to an end against Congo DR in early February.
That was only the second of three defeats so far this year for Syli National, who failed to find the back of the net for the first time in their most recent outing against Mozambique.
Prior to that, the Central Africans had been in devastating form at the top end of the pitch, boasting 13 goals from three previous matches, including an impressive 2-1 win over heavyweights Algeria.
Taking charge of his first game at the helm of affairs since Diawara's dismissal earlier this month, Charles Paquille will be hoping for an immediate response from his charges to kick off their AFCON qualifying campaign as they mean to go on.
Team News
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Having recently switched his international allegiance, Axel Tuanzebe made his Congo DR debut last time out and is expected to feature here once again.
Striker Yoane Wissa has kicked off the new Premier League season in fine form for Brentford with two goals and an assist so far, making him one to keep an eye on.
Meschak Elia currently sits on nine goals for the home side, and his next strike would see him become just the eighth person in Congo DR history to reach double figures for national-team goals.
Despite still awaiting his first appearance of the season due to injury, Serhou Guirassy has been called up by Guinea, but it remains to be seen if he would be fit enough to play any part.
Skipper Naby Keita has not been invited by the away side as he remains on the fringes at Werder Bremen, who are looking to offload the 29-year-old.
Congo DR possible starting lineup:
Bertaud; Masuaku, Mbemba, Tuanzebe, Kalulu; Kakuta, Moutoussamy, Akolo, Bongonda; Wissa, Elia
Guinea possible starting lineup:
Kone; Sylla, Sow, Diakite, Conte; Toure, Diawara, Cisse, Camara; Balde, Bayo
We say: Congo DR 2-1 Guinea
Guinea head into Friday's clash on a positive run of results, but their record against Congo DR does not make for good reading.
We are anticipating an open and end-to-end affair with the home side narrowly seeing off their visitors to claim all three points in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
