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Angola will seek revenge against Ghana on Monday at the Estadio de 11 Novembro following a slim defeat at the Baba Yara Stadium last Thursday in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier.
Having dominated nearly the entire game, the Black Stars had to wait until the very last minute of proceedings to get a scrappy goal through substitute Antoine Semenyo to ease the pressure on new manager Chris Hughton.
Ghana may deem the win as the most important but Angola could also pick themselves up with confidence and hope for a good result at home following their ability to repel virtually all attacks against their opponents when they played in Kumasi.
Angola had a good start to the qualifiers winning against the Central African Republic and sharing the spoils with Madagascar. The Palancas Negras will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways and the most possible place to do so looks like in front of their fans.
However, Ghana knows a win for them will seal qualification for Ivory Coast next year for the AFCON. Chris Hughton’s men could also take solace in their last meeting on Angola soil where they beat the hosts 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, thanks to a 16th-minute strike from Asamoah Gyan.
Having won against Madagascar and drawing with Central African Republic, the four-time African champions have seven points and are followed by CAR and Angola who are both tied on four points in Group E.
FORM GUIDE (LAST FIVE MATCHES)
Following their defeat to Ghana, Angola have now lost twice in their previous five matches. Aside from their 3-0 win against Seychelles, they are yet to score more than two goals in a single game. However, Ghana are with three wins in their last five games and two defeats which they suffered in the 2022 World Cup against Portugal and Uruguay.
ANGOLA’S FORM
23 March 2023 Ghana 1-0 Angola 2023 AFCON qualifiers
20 November South Africa 1–1 Angola Friendly
17 November Angola 1–0 Botswana Friendly
10 July 2022 Botswana 1–0 Angola COSAFA Cup
7 July 2022 Angola 3–0 Seychelles COSAFA Cup
GHANA’S FORM
23 March 2023 Ghana 1-0 Angola 2023 AFCON qualifiers
2 December 2022 Ghana 0–2 Uruguay 2022 World Cup Group H
28 November 2022 South Korea 2-3 Ghana 2022 World Cup Group H
24 November 2022 Portugal 3-2 Ghana 2022 World Cup Group H
17 November 2022 Ghana 2–0 Switzerland Friendly
HEAD TO HEAD
In seven meetings, Angola have won just a game with two draws while Ghana have won four of those matches. Angola’s only win was in 1997 in Luanda.
11 Nov 1982 Angola 1-2 Ghana International Friendly
06 Oct 1996 Ghana 2-1 Angola Africa Cup of Nations
22 Jun 1997 Angola 1-0 Ghana Africa Cup of Nations
28 Apr 2004 Ghana 1-1 Angola International Friendly
18 Nov 2009 Angola 0-0 Ghana International Friendly
24 Jan 2010 Angola 0-1 Ghana Africa Cup of Nations
23 Mar 2023 Ghana 1-0 Angola AFCONQ
TEAM NEWS
ANGOLA
Spezia forward N’zola is a major doubt for Goncalves’ team having picked up an injury in the game in Kumasi. Goalkeeper Hugo Marques is reported to be attending to a family issue which would equally make him miss the encounter. Marques’ omission may however not be a major problem since he warmed the bench in the previous encounter.
PREDICTED LINEUP
(4-2-3-1): Cipriano; Carneiro, Buatu, Gaspar, Ndefe; Show, Fredy; Papel Ary, Gelson, Costa; Lucas
GHANA
Chris Hughton has given Amiens centre-back Nicholas Opoku a late call-up to beef up his defence because Alexander Djiku, who picked up an injury in the final minutes of the clash on Thursday couldn’t recover in time and was unable to travel with the squad to Luanda.
Mohammed Salisu has also been ruled out as well having already missed the previous match due to injury. Denis Odoi is another injury scare for the Black stars together with Black Stars captain Andre Ayew who has flown back to his club Nottingham Forest to treat himself for a knee injury he sustained in camp.
PREDICTED LINEUP
(4-2-3-1): Ati Zigi; Schindler , Amartey, Aidoo, Mensah; Samed, Partey; Kudus, Paintsil, Sulemana; Williams
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