Guinea-Bissau will be looking to complete a group double over Sudan when both sides go head to head at the Stade de Marrakech in Group I on Monday.
With Morocco already securing their place in the final World Cup 2022 qualifying phase, thanks to their insurmountable 10-point lead at the top of the group, this game is a dead rubber with both sides playing merely for pride.
Match preview
Guinea-Bissau snapped their run of two straight defeats in the World Cup qualifiers as they held out for an uneventful goalless draw with Guinea last Friday.
In a game where clear-cut chances were at a premium, both nations were guilty of lethargic displays at the attacking end of the pitch before settling for a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Baciro Cande's men picked up their first win of the campaign when they saw off Monday's visitors 4-2 in September's reverse fixture before suffering successive defeats at the hands of group leaders Morocco in October.
With five points from five matches, Guinea-Bissau are currently second in Group I, three points behind Sudan, who are currently rooted to the bottom of the table.
Monday's visitors, on the other hand, were left empty handed once again when they fell to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of high-flying Morocco last time out.
In a one-sided affair at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Ferencvarosi forward Ryan Mmaee put on an inspiring performance as the grabbed a 60th-minute brace to put the Atlas Lions two goals up before Watford's Imran Louza completed the rout in the third minute of injury time.
Prior to that, Hubert Velud's side ended their three-game losing streak when they came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Guinea in the first of October's double-header before playing out an even more thrilling 2-2 draw three days later.
Sudan have now failed to taste victory in any of their six games across all competitions, picking up two draws and losing four and this has been owing to their defensive woes as they have shipped 14 goals in that time.
While the Falcons of Jediane will be looking to bid farewell on a winning note, they face the stern test of going up against an opposing side who are unbeaten in five of their last seven games, claiming three wins and two draws in that time.
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Team News
After opting for a defensive 5-4-1 formation against Guinea last time out, Cande could revert to his preferred 4-3-3 formation with the Primeira Liga midfielder duo of Alfa Semedo and Sori Mane starting at the centre of the park.
Joseph Medes was handed his first starting appearance in three outings in the aforementioned game and could retain him spot in the XI after an impressive outing
The 30-year-old has been in decent form for Chamois Niortais in the Ligue 2, netting three goals and registering one assist in 11 outings this sason.
Seif Teri, who has nine goals under his belt for Sudan, is a major doubt for Monday's game after coming off injured shortly after the half-hour mark against Morocco last time out.
Should the 27-year-old fail a fitness test, Ahmed Ibrahim Elnour could come into the mix and team up with Al-Hilal Omdurman forward Mohamed Abdelrahman in attack.
Guinea-Bissau possible starting lineup:
Bono; Nanu, Sangante, Djalo, Cande; Cassama, Pele, Bura; Encada, Mendy, Teixeira
Sudan possible starting lineup:
Mustafa; Nemer, H Abdalla, Eltahir, Ering; Kamal, Omar, F Abdalla, Khidir; Abdelrahman, Elnour
We say: Guinea-Bissau 1-1 Sudan
Both sides have endured an underwhelming run in their hunt for a place in Qatar and will both be looking to restore some pride by closing out their campaign on a high. While we expect them to take the game to each other, we predict the spoils will be shared between the two evenly-matched sides.
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 Guinea-Bissau win with a probability of 36.56%. A win for Sudan had a probability of 35.5% and a draw had a probability of 27.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Guinea-Bissau win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.83%) and 2-0 (6.7%). The likeliest Sudan win was 0-1 (11.04%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.5% likelihood.
