Tunisia vs Equatorial Guinea Prediction 05.06.2024

• Competition: World Cup qualification Africa
• Date: Wednesday, 5th, June 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21.00 CEST
• Venue: Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi (Rades)

Tunisia continues to push towards securing a spot in the second phase of the CAF World Cup qualifiers as they host a restarted Equatorial Guinea at the Stade Olympique de Rades on Wednesday.

Tunisia vs Equatorial Guinea Betting Tips: BTTS - NO

In their quest to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup finals, the Tunisian national team has kicked off their qualifiers in dominant fashion, cruising past Sao Tome and Principe with a commanding 4-0 victory in the opener before clinching a late 1-0 win against Malawi on matchday two.

However, the Tunisians continue their qualifying campaign with a new boss on the sidelines, as the humiliating exit from the AFCON group stage earlier this year resulted in the dismissal of Jalel Kadri, paving the way for Montasser Louhichi to step in as the interim head coach.

Despite being appointed as a temporary solution, Louhichi could be on track to secure his spot on the bench, following a promising start to his tenure, guiding his side to back-to-back goalless stalemates against the World Cup 2022 bronze medalists Croatia and the modest New Zealand side.

With those March friendly draws, the Tunisians have now stretched their negative winless streak to five straight matches across any category and haven't rattled the net in the last three, but the Eagles of Carthage will be confident they can snap their dry spell against Wednesday's rival whom they have outplayed in four of the last five H2H's on their own den.

Their midweek opponent is the national team of Equatorial Guinea, who, despite starting the first phase of World Cup 2028 qualification with a perfect six points from their first two matches, were handed defaults by FIFA's disciplinary committee for fielding star player Emilio Nsue, who was ineligible to compete.

It's fascinating that it was none other than the seasoned 34-year-old striker Nsue who netted the winners in both their one-goal triumphs against Namibia and Liberia in the qualifiers, but now they must start anew, a situation Equatorial Guinea has faced before when they had to forfeit two victories during the World Cup 2014 qualifiers due to the same player.

The significance of the experienced striker for the national team is evident in how he helped Los Elefantes reach the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations, but simultaneously took on the role of the tragic hero by missing a penalty in the round of 16 tie against Guinea, condemning his country to elimination from the tournament.

Considering the absence of Nsue, it's difficult to truly envision Equatorial Guinea posing a serious threat in attack to any side, let alone one of the strongest on the African continent like Tunisia, from whom they were sent packing with seven goals unanswered in their last two visits to the Stade Olympique de Rades. Considering that the Eagles of Carthage have kept six clean sheets in their last eight home matches, we're hopeful that Louhichi will secure a shutout victory in his debut official game.