Group B at the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers could be decided on Thursday evening when minnows Lesotho take on Central African Republic at the Free State Toyota Stadium.
Lesotho are one of 18 countries unable to host home qualifiers after CAF ruled their facilities inadequate, thus this match will be played in neighbouring South Africa.
Match preview
© Imago
Lesotho will play their remaining matches in this group as a mere formality, as they are already eliminated from qualification contention, having only managed to earn a single point from their first four games.
Likuena suffered back-to-back defeats in the first two rounds of qualifying, while their sole point in the competition came against Gabon in a 0-0 draw on matchday three before losing 2-0 to the same opponent four days later.
Additionally, they failed to score in each of their last three games in this competition and are now set to miss out on qualifying for the AFCON for the 10th consecutive time since their first attempt in 2000-01.
However, Leslie Notsi's side will have some confidence coming into this match, having brought an end to their eight-match winless streak by beating Namibia on penalties in their African Nations Championship qualifier earlier this month.
© Imago
Meanwhile, this match is of huge importance to the Central African Republic, as a defeat here will bring an end to their hopes of qualifying for the tournament in Morocco next year.
Unfortunately for the Les Fauves, with just three points earned to date and trailing second-placed Gabon by four, qualifying is out of their hands as a win in this match will still not be enough if the Panthers beat Morocco in the other match in the group.
CAR got their qualifiers off to a bright start, beating this opponent 3-1 in the first match in the group, but they suffered three consecutive defeats between rounds two and four, a period during which they conceded 11 goals and failed to score even once.
Following their loss to Morocco last month, the Central African Republic Football Association took the decision to sack Swiss tactician Raoul Savoy after 21 matches in charge and almost four years of service.
Former captain of Fauves de Bas-Oubangui, Eloge Enza-Yamissi, has since been appointed as caretaker manager for the foreseeable future and will be hoping to make a winning start to his first game at the helm.
Team News
© Imago
Notsi has retained five players who put in impressive performances from the squad that he sent out in the African Nations Championship qualifiers against Namibia last month.
Those call-ups include Paseka Maile, Mpho Hlephole, Hlompho Kalake, Thabo Mafatle, as well as Limkokwing University FC's Player of the Year Lemohang Lintsa, who scored 18 goals for his club last term.
CAR are mostly unchanged from the team that faced Morocco last month and will look to Louis Mafouta, who has scored six goals in 13 matches for Ligue 2 club Amiens, to lead the line this week.
Marseille's Geoffrey Kondogbia and Brad Pirioua are expected to make up the visitors' engine room, while CSKA Sofia's Goduine Koyalipou will likely operate in the number 10 role behind Mafouta.
Lesotho possible starting lineup:
Moerane; Matlabe, Makele, Rasethuntsa, Sefoli; Makoele, Lebokollane, Taba, Bereng, Molane; Motebang
Central African Republic possible starting lineup:
Lambe; Yangao, Yambere, Zanganga, Ndobe; Ngoma, Pirioya, Kondogbia, Namnganga; Koyalipu; Mafouta
We say: Lesotho 1-2 Central African Republic
Lesotho have brought in a few promising youngsters for this month's AFCON qualifiers which could help them put up a better fight than in previous rounds, but we feel the CAR still have the better side on paper and should come out on top in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
