Separated by just one point in Group F of the Africa Cup of Nations, Gambia and Tunisia go head to head at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium on Thursday.

Gambia currently lead the way in the group table, level on four points with second-place Mali, while the Eagles of Carthage are third with three points from two outings.

Gambia maintained their fine start to the Africa Cup of Nations as they put on a resilient display to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Mali last Sunday.

Following an uneventful first half, Ibrahima Kone converted his 79th-minute penalty to put the Eagles ahead but Musa Barrow was calm under pressure as he made no mistake from the opposite penalty spot to restore parity in the 90th minute.

Tom Stieft will be delighted with his side's start to the tournament after they opened thir campaign with a hard-earned 1-0 victory over a resilient Mauritania side when they squared off last Wednesday.

Having amassed four points from their first two games, Gambia are currently top of Group F, level on points with second-placed Mali, and a share of the spoils on Thursday will be enough to see them through to the last 16.
Meanwhile, Tunisia got their AFCON campaign up and running last time out when they cruised to a dominant 4-0 win over Mauritania at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium.

After racing to a two-goal lead inside the opening nine minutes through Hamza Mathlouthi and Wahbi Khazri, the Saint-Etienne forward scored his second of the game four minutes after the hour mark before setting up Seifeddine Jaziri's strike two minutes later.

This followed a somewhat disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mali in their group curtain-raiser on January 12, when Ibrahima Kone scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot three minutes after the half-time break.

Tunisia, who are currently third in the group standings with three points from two outings, have now won just one of their last three games in all competitions, losing two of those games, including December's Arab Cup final against Algeria.

However, Mondher Kebaier's men will feel confident of claiming the desired result and progressing to the next phase of the tournament as they go up against an opposing side who are currently 120 places below them according to the latest FIFA World Rankings.

Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea go head to head at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium on Thursday for a place in the knockout stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.

With both sides separated by just one point in Group E of the tournament, this game has all the makings of a proper contest as a win will see either side progress to the knockout stages.

Sierra Leone kept their hopes of making it to the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations alive when they came from behind twice to snatch a 2-2 draw against Ivory Coast last Sunday.

After Sebastien Haller scored to hand Ivory Coast a half-time advantage, 21-year-old Musa Noah Kamara restored parity in the 55th minute, and after Nicolas Pepe put the Elephants ahead five minutes later, substitute Alhaji Kamara levelled matters for the second time in the game in the third minute of injury time.

Prior to that, John Keister's men got their AFCON campaign off to a somewhat impressive start as they played out a goalless draw against reigning champions Algeria in last Tuesday's group opener.

With two points from their opening two games, Sierra Leone are currently third in Group E, one point behind Thursday's opponent and two behind leaders Ivory Coast.

While the Leone Stars need all three points to progress to the knockout stages, they have managed just one win from their last 10 games in all competitions, with a 1-0 win over Benin back in June 2021 being the only exception.

Equatorial Guinea, on the other hand, grabbed one of the shock results of the tournament as they stunned Algeria to a 1-0 victory when the sides met last Sunday.

Despite being pushed back for most of the game and seeing just 31% of the ball possession, Esteban Orozco came up trumps for the National Thunder as he grabbed the winner with 20 minutes left on the clock.

This followed a 1-0 loss against Ivory Coast in their group curtain-raiser on January 12, when Max Gradel grabbed the only goal of the game inside the opening five minutes.

Next up for Equatorial Guinea is an opposing side who they have failed to defeat in each of the last three meetings between the sides since 2008, losing twice and claiming one draw in that time.

With the Africa Cup of Nations in full swing, Tunisia go head to head with Mauritania at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium in Group F on Sunday.

Both nations, who have now failed to win any of their last two outings, will head into the game desperate for all three points following their opening-day defeats against Mali and Gambia respectively.

Tunisia were denied a dream start to their 15th consecutive Africa Cup of Nations appearance as they fell to a slender 1-0 defeat at the hands of Mali on Wednesday.

In a game marred by poor officiating, 22-year-old forward Ibrahima Kone made no mistake from 12 yards out as he converted his 48th-minute penalty with aplomb to hand the Eagles all three points.

This followed a gruesome 2-0 defeat at the hands of Algeria in the Arab Cup final on December 18, when Amir Saayoud and Yacine Brahimi scored extra-time goals to hand the reigning African champions the title.

Like against Mali, where they dominated proceedings but failed to tuck home their chances, Mondher Kebaier will be disturbed by his side's recent lack of sting in attack as they have scored just four goals in their last six games.

Similarly, Mauritania marked their return to the continental tournament with a defeat as they were beaten 1-0 by Gambia at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium on Wednesday.

Al-Murabitun, who made their AFCON debut three years ago in Egypt, where they were sent packing in the group stages after finishing rock bottom in Group E with two points from six games, were seeking to pick up their first-ever win at the tournament.

However, the Scorpions took a deserved lead just 10 minutes into the game through Ablie Jallow before putting on a solid defensive performance to see out the win.

Mauritania have now picked up just one win from their last 11 games across all competitions, claiming three draws and losing seven games in that time, with December's 2-1 win over Syria being the only exception.

While Didier Gomes Da Rosa's men will look to end this dry spell and get their campaign up and running, next up is an opposing side who are unbeaten in each of their last eight encounters, claiming five wins and three draws since 2015.

After back-to-back wins have lifted the mood at Arsenal, a Carabao Cup tie against AFC Wimbledon presents a chance for the Gunners to maintain their momentum ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.

While their rivalry with Tottenham is one of the most storied in English football, tonight’s fixture will be Arsenal’s first against AFC Wimbledon.

Mikel Arteta’s men have steadied the ship with successive 1-0 Premier League wins, against Norwich and Burnley, after starting the new campaign with three defeats on the spin.

They reached this stage of the competition by hammering a youthful West Brom side 6-0 in the last round, while AFC Wimbledon have taken care of Northampton Town and Charlton.

The second round of the Carabao Cup sees Arsenal travel to Championship side West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday evening.

After a dismal start to the Gunners’ Premier League campaign, Mikel Arteta is likely to make changes to his out-of-form side for the trip to the Midlands.

Both sides have had contrasting starts to the new season, with West Brom unbeaten in their opening four league games and second in the table, while Arsenal are second from bottom after two defeats from two matches.

The Baggies came out on top with a statement 4-0 victory over also-relegated Sheffield United last time out, and Arsenal will need be wary of their attacking threat going forward.

TEAM NEWS

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is fit after recovering from a shoulder injury sustained against Tottenham on the opening weekend.

Kevin de Bruyne has a minor ankle issue and faces a late fitness test, while Phil Foden remains sidelined.

Norwich head coach Daniel Farke has no fresh injury concerns and might name the same side that faced Liverpool.

Defender Andrew Omobamidele could return to the squad after recovering from tonsillitis.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool could welcome back Jordan Henderson, Thiago and Curtis Jones but Andrew Robertson continues to recover from an ankle ligament injury.

Ibrahima Konate may be in line to make his debut for the club after being an unused substitute last week.

Burnley have no fresh injury concerns but remain without long-term absentees Dale Stephens and Kevin Long.

Summer signings Wayne Hennessey and Nathan Collins both wait to make their Clarets debut.

The exercise will be undertaken in Cameroon before the competition is held between January and February next year

Caf will conduct the draw for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations on August 17 in Yaounde, Cameroon, where the 24 participating teams will be grouped into six pools, each of four teams.

Based on the Fifa world rankings released a few days ago, the teams will be allocated to four pots each of six teams for the draw.

Draw Procedure

The top four teams, based on the rankings, will be allocated to pot one, where Cameroon - the hosts - and Algeria, the defending champions, are also there. Senegal, Tunisia, and Nigeria have also been put into this pot.

The other teams will be in pots two, three, and four based on their ranking in a descending manner. Former champions Egypt, as well as Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea are in pot two.

Cape Verde, Gabon, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Guinea Bissau are in pot three, while Malawi, Sudan, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, and The Gambia are in pot four.

The pots representing teams will be marked pots 1-4 while the pots for groups will be marked A to F. The Indomitable Lions will be fixed to position A1 while the remaining participants in pot one will automatically be drawn into position one of each group, B to F.

The same procedure will be undertaken for the remaining pots and each team pot must be emptied before moving on to the next pot.

Australia vs Nigeria will take place on Sunday 25th July, 2021 at 09:20 (UK)

match will take place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama,

THE PREDICTION

Australia will hope to go deep in this tournament with a medal not out of the question for them but they will want to make a strong start as they take on Nigeria. Australia have won both clashes between the pair including a recent friendly in preparation for this tournament. The Australians were huge 108-69 winners that day and having won their last five matches, they should be able to extend that streak here

The 16th European Championship is finally starting today, Friday June 11, a trans-continental tournament encompassing 51 matches over 31 days in 11 countries, ranging from Baku in the east to Glasgow, 2,600 miles to the Azerbaijan capital's west. All the squads have been finalised, late withdrawals notwithstanding, and England, who will play all their group games at Wembley, where both semi-finals and the final will also be staged, are second-favourites behind the world champions, France.

Euro 2020 was postponed last year because of the global Covid pandemic, but the tournament returns this summer with the same teams and nearly the same host cities - Seville replacing Bilbao and Saint Petersburg, already a host, taking on Dublin's games as well.


The tournament consists of 24 teams, split across six groups. The top 16 teams will progress to the knockout stages, with the top two in each group plus four best third-placed teams qualifying. The competition then enters a traditional knockout format.
Which teams have qualified?

Euro 2021 groups:

Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales

Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

Group C: Ukraine, Netherlands, Austria, North Macedonia

Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic, Scotland

Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden, Slovakia

Group F: Germany, France, Portugal, Hungary

They’ve shut down my moms place of work because people are literally dropping dead from the virus. In two days they’re dead and everyone is panicking. It all started from the NIN rush because most of them went to register at the center and now they’re dying. I hate this country