Gameweek three in the CAF World Cup Qualifiers will see Guinea-Bissau take on Ethiopia at Estadio Nacional 24 de Setembro on Thursday evening.
The hosts currently occupy third place in their group with four points after their first two games, while the visitors are fifth with one point over the same period.
Match preview
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Guinea-Bissau return to World Cup qualifying after a dismal Africa Cup of Nations campaign, where they finished bottom of their group and were one of only two teams in the tournament that lost all three group-stage matches.
However, the African Wild Dogs have made a promising start to these qualifiers and are still unbeaten following a 1-1 draw away to Burkina Faso in their opening match and a 1-0 win against Djibouti in match two.
Owing to their poor showing in the Ivory Coast earlier this year, the Guinea-Bissau FA opted to part ways with Baciro Cande and appointed now-former Fulham first-team coach Luis Boa Morte as his successor.
Boa Morte had a successful playing career with Arsenal, where he won the Premier League title in 1998, while he also served as a coach at Portuguese fourth-tier side Sintrense between 2017 and 2018.
Guinea-Bissau won their last home game 2-1 against Sierra Leone during AFCON qualifying, which ended a three-match winless run, and will need a big performance here to build up momentum before facing Egypt on Monday night.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia will be taking to the field in a competitive match for the first time since their first two games in this competition back in November, having failed to earn qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Walias got their World Cup qualification campaign started with a goalless draw at home to Sierra Leone, but were no match for Burkina Faso, who beat them fairly convincingly 3-0 the following week.
Since then, they played two international friendlies in March this year, both against Lesotho, and lost the first 2-1 before reversing the scoreline, earning Gebremedhin Haile his first win since his appointment as head coach last November.
Ethiopia are currently on a four-match losing streak in away games and failed to score in three of those games, while conceding seven. Their last victory on the road was in September 2022, when they managed a 1-0 win over Rwanda in the African Nations Championship qualifiers.
Team News
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Boa Morte will have to make do without the services of Houboulang Mendes, who will have to serve a one-match ban after being sent off in the closing stages of their 1-0 win against Djibouti.
Fali Cande is the most likely to step into the four-man defence in Mendes's absence, alongside Dinamo Bucharest centre-back Edgar Ie, Opa Sangante, and Estrela Amadora full-back Nanu.
Following their pair of friendlies in March, veteran midfielder Shimeles Bekele announced his retirement from the Ethiopian national team after 15 years representing his country.
Kenean Markneh scored the winner against Lesotho last time out and should keep his place in attack for the Walias, while Tafesse Solomon will be pushing for a starting role after having to come off the bench in the last two outings.
Guinea-Bissau possible starting lineup:
J. Mendes; Cande, Ie, Sangate, Nanu; Bikel, N. Gomes, Quizera, Dalcio, CM. Gomes; Gano
Ethiopia possible starting lineup:
Getahun; Gerba, Solomon, Belay, Gugsa; Gebremichael, Tekle, Panom, Yusef; Dagnachew, Markneh
We say: Guinea-Bissau 1-0 Ethiopia
While both these sides are not in the best form at present, Guinea-Bissau have played significantly more competitive matches in recent times and have shown signs of improvement under the guidance of their new head coach. This could be a bit of a slow-burner but we feel the hosts will edge it by a single goal.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
