Morocco will look to extend their impressive record at the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this week when they face the Central African Republic at Stade d'Honneur d'Oujda on Saturday.
The hosts enter gameweek three of qualifying with solid momentum, currently sitting atop Group B with six points, while the visitors are in third place in the group standings with three points.
Match preview
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Morocco will be looking to secure another six points over the next two matchdays since due to their upcoming opponents' stadiums being deemed unfit for international competition, next week's 'away' leg between these sides will also be played here in Oujda.
That will give the Atlas Lions the perfect opportunity to build on their perfect record in this competition, following a commanding 4-1 win over Gabon in their opening match and a 1-0 win over Lesotho on the road in week two.
With those results, Walid Regragui's side are now unbeaten in their last six matches, won each of their last four, and scored an impressive 13 goals during their win streak, while only conceding once.
Since their tremendous disappointment at the last Africa Cup of Nations, the Atlas Stars have played four games on home soil and won three, with the only exception being a goalless draw against Mauritania in a friendly back in March.
These sides last met during group qualification for the 2021 AFCON competition and Morocco won both matches, extending their unbeaten run against this opponent to five matches, including three wins and two draws.
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Meanwhile, the Central African Republic are now competing in their ninth AFCON qualification campaign and are hoping that this will finally be the year that they manage to earn a spot in main draw.
Les Fauves got their qualifiers off to an excellent start, beating Lesotho 3-1 on opening day last month, but they failed to follow up on that result, suffering a 2-0 defeat on the road to Gabon four days later.
Still, Raoul Savoy's side do have a positive record in 2024, with four wins earned in six matches, while their only other defeat this year was a 4-3 thriller against Ghana in World Cup qualifying back in June.
However, while CAR have shown improvement in recent months, they still need to address their tendency to leak goals cheaply, as we saw in each of their last three games during which they shipped seven.
In addition to addressing their defensive issues, the visitors will have to improve their away record if they are to stand any chance of qualifying. In their last 12 matches on the road, Les Fauves have lost nine times and won just once.
Team News
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Morocco were dealt a late injury blow in the lead-up to this match, with Manchester United full-back Noussair Mazraoui withdrawing from the squad to reportedly undergo a heart procedure after experiencing palpitations.
Other notable absentees for the Atlas Lions this week include the likes of Brahim Diaz and Hakim Ziyech due to injury while rising talent Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal received his first call-up to the national team.
For the visitors, Louis Mafouta has been their main attacking spark in recent times, scoring five goals in his last three matches, including a hat-trick in the defeat to the Black Stars back in June.
The Amiens striker is likely to team up with CSKA Sofia forward Goduine Koyalipou in attack for this match, while Marseille's Geoffrey Kondogbia is expected to try and pull the strings in the visitors' midfield.
Morocco possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Abkar, Aznou, Aguerd, Boudlal; El Khannouss, Amrabat, Saibari, Ounahi, Ezzalzouli, En-Nesyri
Central African Republic possible starting lineup:
Youfeigane; Gambor, Yoga, Ndobe, Tatolna; Baboula, Solet, Kondogbia, Namnganda; Koyalipou; Mafouta
We say: Morocco 3-1 Central African Republic
While the Central African Republic have earned a few impressive results in recent months, they have not faced a side with the type of talent Morocco possesses, and we feel the visitors will be unable to keep up with the Atlas Lions in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
