Two sides who have booked their spot in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations go head to head in a friendly as Morocco and Burkina Faso clash at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Tuesday.
The Atlas Lions head into the matchup unbeaten in each of their last four games against their West African counterparts since August 2013 and will be looking to extend this impressive run.
Match preview
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Morocco were left with a bitter taste of disappointment in their most recent outing as they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of South Africa in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on June 17.
A first-half own goal from Monir El Kaioui and Zakhele Lepasa's 48th-minute strike set the Bafana Bafana on their way at the FNB Stadium before Hakim Ziyech pulled one back on the hour mark.
However, a run of six points from their opening two qualifying matches has seen Walid Regragui's men guarantee their spot in the forthcoming AFCON in January, where they will be looking to conquer the continent for just the second time.
Morocco, who stormed to the World Cup semi-finals last December, head into Tuesday unbeaten in their last seven friendly matches, picking up four wins and three draws since a 3-0 loss against USA in June 2022.
Burkina Faso, on the other hand, wrapped up their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign on Friday when they played out a goalless draw with Eswatini at the Stade de Marrakech.
Despite being in the ascendancy for most of the game, the Stallions were guilty of a wasteful display in front of goal as they failed to take any of their chances before settling for a share of the spoils.
With that result, Burkina Faso have now failed to win their last three games in the qualifiers, picking up just one point from a possible nine since kicking off the campaign with three consecutive victories.
However, Hubert Velud's men have booked their spot in Ivory Coast with 10 points from six matches as they clinched top spot in Group B, one point above runners-up Cape Verde.
While Burkina Faso will be looking to find their feet on Tuesday, they face the stern challenge of taking on an opposing side who are unbeaten in their last four meetings, claiming three wins and one draw, and have won eight of their previous 12 since September 1994.
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Team News
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Morocco head into Tuesday's clash with a star-studded 27-man squad, including the likes of goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Paris Saint-Germain full-back Archraf Hakimi and skipper Romain Sais.
Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri, who is currently seventh in the nation's all-time scoring chart with 17 goals in 61 appearances, has also been called up by Regragui and should spearhead the Atlas Lions' attack once again.
Selim Amallah and Yahya Jabrane should team up at the centre of the park, while newly-signed Manchester United man Sofyan Amrabat will play no part in Tuesday's game after pulling out of the squad due to injury.
Stade Rennais forward Ibrahim Salah is one of eight new faces in the Atlas Lions' camp, alongside the goalkeeping duo of Mehdi Benabid and Youssef El Motie, and midfielder Amir Richardson.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Tiraspol midfielder Cedric Badolo is a major doubt for Burkina Faso after coming off injured midway through the game against Eswatini on Friday.
Yago, who is currently sixth in the nation's all-time appearance list with 73 caps under his belt, has also earned a spot in the Stallions squad and should form the back centre-back pairing with Bayer Leverkusen man Edmond Tapsoba.
Bournemouth striker Dango Ouattara, who has four goals in five AFCON qualifying games should lead the Burkina Faso attack, alongside Cyrille Bayala and Abdoul Tapsoba.
Morocco possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Mazraoui; Amallah, Jabrane, Ounahi; Aboukhlal, En-Nesyri, Salah
Burkina Faso possible starting lineup:
Koffi; Kabore, Dayo, E Tapsoba, Guiebre; Salou, Guira; Bangre, Bayala, A Tapsoba; D Ouattara
We say: Morocco 2-1 Burkina Faso
While Burkina Faso will be looking to return to winning ways, standing in their way is a star-studded and more experienced Morocco side. The Atlas Lions boast the firepower needed to get this one over the line and we fancy them to come away with the desired results.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joshua Ojele
