Seeking to maintain their unbeaten start to the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, Mali visit the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday to face off against Kenya.
On the other hand, the hosts are still yet to record a victory midway through the qualifiers and are running out time to secure a place in Qatar next year.
Match preview
© Reuters
Mali made it two home wins in a row following a 5-0 demolition of Kenya at the Adrar Stadium on Thursday when the sides went head-to-head.
Sandwiched in between goals from Adama Traore and Moussia Doumbia, Ibrahima Kone scored a hat-trick as Mohamed Magassouba's men romped to a comfortable victory.
With seven points from three outings, Les Aigles remain top of Group E, two points ahead of nearest challengers Uganda with three games left to play.
The west Africans are still yet to let in a goal in the qualifiers and have also been in imperious form at the other end of the pitch having netted six times.
Sunday's visitors, who follow up this weekend's contest with a trip to bottom-placed Rwanda next month, have an opportunity to take a giant step towards qualification with all three points in this one.
Off the back of consecutive stalemates versus Uganda and Rwanda, Kenya were left red-faced in Agadir where they conceded five unanswered goals.
Unsurprisingly, Engin Firat's men have now conceded the most goals in the group while also scoring the joint-fewest number of goals at the other end.
The Harambee Stars, who still await their first-ever appearance at the World Cup finals in their 95-year history, are now in the last chance saloon if they are to break that duck.
- D
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- W
Team News
Ibrahima Kone netted his second national-team treble in midweek, and the 22-year-old heads into this weekend's contest with the wind in his sails.
Metz defender Boubakar Kouyate was forced off with a minor injury after just 16 minutes last time out, making him a doubt for his side's trip.
Kenya's duo of Lawrence Juma and Joash Nyango also suffered a premature end to their outings in the aforementioned game and will need to pass a late fitness test to feature in this one.
Eric Zakayo was handed his international debut on Thursday when he came on for Juma in the first half, and he could be handed a second cap in as many games on Sunday.
Kenya possible starting lineup:
I.Otieno; E.Otieno, Abdallah, Okumu, Omurwa; Zakayo, Odada, Khamis, Muguna, Meja; Olunga
Mali possible starting lineup:
Mounkoro; C.Traore, Fofana, Sacko, H.Traore; Camara, Haidara, A.Traore; Djenepo, Kone, A.Traore
We say: Kenya 0-2 Mali
Free-scoring Mali will fancy their chances of coming out on top against an opposing side who have been all over the place defensively. We are tipping the away side to cruise past their hosts and come away with all three points in this one.
Top tip
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 Kenya win with a probability of 48.11%. A win for Mali had a probability of 25.99% and a draw had a probability of 25.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Kenya win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.9%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.24%) and 2-0 (8.95%). The likeliest Mali win was 0-1 (8.17%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.29%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with an 8.2% likelihood.
