AFCON 2015 Todays Fixtures: 5:00 PM - Ghana vs Algeria 8:00 PM - South Africa vs Senegal GHANA vs ALGERIA Big fixture I must say, 4time champions against the highest ranked team on the continent. Avram Grant will be looking to right his wrong from his first game in charge of the black stars when they fell 1-2 to Senegal. With the return of Gyan Asamoah imminent, its safe to say that Ghana will be a bit better going forward. I still expect Atsu to start along side Andre Ayew on the wings, with Jordan Ayew dropping to the bench while Gyan Asamoah plays as a centre forward. In the last game against bafana-bafana, it was obvious that the Algerians had some lapses in defence with Medjani and Halliche playing as centre halves. If they want a more solid back line, I suggest Majeed Bougherra or Belkalem should replace Medjani who has been more comfortable as a defensive midfielder in the last one year. At right-back, Mandi was good last time with his superlative performance, same can be said for Fouzi Ghoullam who went as far as getting his name on the score sheet. Same cannot be said about the Ghanian defence with the likes of Mohammed Awal and Jonathan Mensah looking like pretenders against the teranga lions. In midfield, young Amartey was quick to burn out, it seems obvious that the youngster isnt ready for the physical demands attributed to this kind of tournament. Harrison Afful will be punished if he keeps making overlapping runs down that right flank without Christian Atsu to cover for him. Same should be said for Baba Rahman, the bundesliga wing-back completed few passes and lost possession too often for a defender, little wonder why Senegal looked dangerous going against Grants defence. Expect the black stars defence to sweat when they try to contain SP Sporting Lisbon striker Islam Slimani and BBC african footballer of the year Yacine Brahimi who didnt play to the best of his ability last time but I believe will get into his strides later today, also watch out for Valencias Sofiane Feghouli who may be unnoticed until he gets a half chance to put the ball at the back of the net. That midfield battle looks like lost for Ghana on paper with the likes of Mohammed Rabui and Agyemang Badu who was caged in the first game coming up against Algerias highly experienced Lacen, Nabil Bentaleb (Tottenham) and Taider. Razak Brimah better be ready, he will be tested time after time with long range shots and with a striker like Slimani who has some fine finishing in that right foot, I dont expect Ghana to keep a clean sheet in this one. Algeria can also bring in Soudani if they need to run down the Ghanian defence, he is quick with so much pace I dont believe the black stars defence can deal with. Another player the desert foxes can use to frighten Ghana is Belfodil, standing at just about 191cm with good stamina level and dangerous when it comes to dead ball situations. On the other hand, Algeria better be weary of a certain Mubarak Wakaso though, he may most likely come in as a substitute and when he does, he shoots from long range and knows how to keep possession. All said, Mbolhi and Razak will both come up against some of the finest forwards on the continent today but I think the Algerian goal keeper is going to concede less. Verdict: Ghana 1-2 Algeria
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 18:49:30 +0000