Day 2 Africa Cup of Nations Tips: Ghana's goals woes set to continue

• Oppose overrated Nigeria

• Salah makes tournament bow

• Ghana's form a major concern

Nigeria v Equatorial Guinea - Sun, 14:00

Nigeria are a predictably short 1.501/2 to win their opening group game on Sunday afternoon but on closer inspection 8.88/1 underdogs Equatorial Guinea appear the smart selection.

Nigeria's form is unimpressive and their recent performances cast serious doubts over whether they deserve to be as short as they are to claim the points.

The Super Eagles posted dismal results in their opening two 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November. They could only draw 1-1 (home) vs Lesotho and then recorded the same scoreline (away) vs Zimbabwe a few days later.

In their only pre-Africa Cup of Nations friendly things didn't go according to plan, either, as they lost 2-0 to Guinea.

Their opponents Equatorial Guinea made the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals for the first time in their history in Cameroon two years ago, losing to eventual winners Senegal.

They've built on that impressive showing by making steady improvements since and they head into this game on a 10-match (W5-D5-L0) unbeaten run in all competitions. Unlike Nigeria, they've made an excellent start in their World Cup qualifiers, posting consecutive 1-0 wins vs Nambia (home) and Liberia (away).

Form rather than reputation suggests Equatorial Guinea can make this an awkward afternoon for Nigeria. The draw's available at 4.03/1 and that might be worth taking.

Our preference on the match is Equatorial Guinea with a +1.0 & +1.5 Asian Handicap lead. With this selection, you'll make a profit if Equatorial Guinea win, draw or lose by a single goal.

Alternatively, consider backing Equatorial Guinea And Draw on the Double Chance market at 15/82.88. This market's pretty self explanatory: if Equatorial Guinea win or the game ends in a draw, you'll make a profit.

Egypt v Mozambique - Sun, 17.00

Egypt have won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times and are 1.364/11 to claim all three points in their opening group game. Rather than having any selections on this match, we prefer to take a watching brief to assess the strength of the two sides.

Egypt have drifted in the outright market since the start of the year. At the time of writing they're 8/19.00 fifth favourites in the Winner 2023 market.

Those odds will shorten a little if Egypt make a winning start here, as will the odds on Mohamed Salah to be the tournament's top scorer if he gets on the scoresheet.

At the time of writing, Salah is 5/16.00 favourite in the Top Goalscorer market. You can read more about that market and see our Top Goalscorer selections for the tourmament here.

Ghana v Cape Verde - Sun, 20.00

Chris Hughton is the Ghana manager and he's under real pressure as he leads the Black Stars into their first game of the tournament on Sunday evening.

The ex-Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United boss was appointed in February 2023 but Ghana's recent results and performances have left plenty to be desired.

There are genuine concerns among Ghana fans that their team may fail to live up to its potential based on how the side has fared over the past six months.

Ghana have lost three of their last five internationals and suffered an humiliating 1-0 defeat (away) vs Comoros in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November.

There was little to lift the fans' spirits in Ghana's one and only pre-Africa Cup of Nations friendly, either, as the side could only 0-0 against Namibia.

Ghana are 1.855/6 favourites to win their opening game but there's little appeal in backing them given their form. Cape Verde are 5.39/2, while the Draw is 3.259/4. We prefer looking at the goals markets instead.

In 10 games since Hughton's appointment 11 months ago Ghana have scored just eight times. Seven of those 10 matches have had Under 2.5 Goals, with five of those matches having Under 1.5 Goals.

Remarkably, Ghana have yet to score a goal in open play in the first-halves of any their matches since Hughton was appointed. If they've done their homework, Cape Verde might well play on this by looking to frustrate Ghana during the opening 45 minutes of this game.

Under 1.5 Goals is available at 15/82.88 while Under 2.5 Goals is 4/71.57. In order to have a safety net, we recommend backing Under 2.0 on the Goal Lines market at 2.26/5. With this selection, you'll make a profit if the game has no goals or one goal, and get your stakes back if the game has exactly two goals.

Another market to consider would be the 0-0 HT Scoreline. At odds of 6/42.50 this has some appeal given Ghana's struggles to score before the interval since Hughton took charge.

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