Preview: Sao Tome & Principe vs. Guinea-Bissau
Round five of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign sees Sao Tome & Principe lock horns against Guinea-Bissau at Estadio 24 de Setembro on Wednesday.
The hosts remain without a victory after four matches, while the visitors go in search of a victory which would put them in pole position to finish as runners-up.
After claiming a 1-0 win three days earlier, Guinea-Bissau were on the receiving end of a 1-0 defeat against the Super Eagles of Nigeria on March 27.
Moses Simon opened the scoring right on the half-hour mark from 12 yards, and that was enough to put Baciro Cande’s men to the sword in a tight affair.
Consequently, Djurtus have dropped to second place in Group A, albeit just two points adrift of top spot heading into the penultimate set of qualifiers.
Awaiting the west Africans next is the task of taking on an opposing side who have lost each of the previous three meetings between the teams across all competitions.
Off the back of ending a five-game winless run on the road in their most recent outing, Wednesday’s visitors now set out to record consecutive victories on the road for the first time since 2021.
Despite giving a good account of themselves, Sao Tome & Principe fell to a 2-0 loss against Sierra Leone when the sides faced off at Stade Adrar on March 26.
Adriano Eusebio’s men went into the interval with a mountain to climb after they had conceded first-half goals to Abubakar Samura and Alhassan Koroma in Agadir.
Still stuck on just a single point from four games so far, the Central Africans remain rooted to the bottom of their qualifying group and would need a miraculous turnaround to secure a place in next year’s continental showpiece.
Having let in a whopping 18 goals across their last five home involvements, Wednesday’s hosts will need to be wary of being picked apart defensively in front of their fans.
Sao Tome & Principe Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying form:
LLDL
Guinea-Bissau Africa Cup of Nations Qualifying form:
WDWL
Guinea-Bissau form (all competitions):
WDLDWL
We say: Sao Tome & Principe 0-2 Guinea-Bissau
Neither team is in particularly good form heading into this one, but Guinea-Bissau will back themselves to triumph against a Sao Tome side who have been found wanting at both ends of the pitch in recent games. We are backing the visitors to carry the day here in a relatively comfortable manner.