Mali vs Zambia Prediction: The Eagles’ squad depth to secure the victory

Mali and Zambia meet at Mohammed V Stadium on Monday (14:00 GMT, 4seven) for their opening Group A match at the Africa Cup of Nations. There are 36 places separating the two sides in the Fifa world rankings but Zambia will look to discredit their current placing.

Below you will find my Mali vs Zambia predictions, featuring the latest team news and match odds from Betfred.

Team News

Kamory Doumbia is Mali's highest scorer in the squad with 14 goals in 26 appearances. The midfielder who plays for Brest in France is likely going to be the Eagles' talisman over the next few weeks and they will be hoping to turn to the 22-year-old for inspiration more often than not.

He isn't the only talented individual in the squad, though, as forwards Dorgeles Nene (Fenerbahce) and El Bilal Tour (Besiktas) both have nine goals for their country.

Tottenham Hotspur's Yves Bissouma is included in the midfield ranks despite not featuring for the Premier League club once this season due ankle and disciplinary issues. He will need to be assessed ahead of the opener.

Football Odds

Leicester City striker Patson Daka is set to lead the line for Zambia, and he is likely to feel the weight of the nation on his shoulders.

Kennedy Musonda, who plays for Hapoel Ramat Gan in Israel, is expected to partner Daka up front for the Copper Bullets.

Mali vs Zambia Odds

As expected, Mali are the favourites to win this battle at 4/7 (implied probability of 63.6%) but it is also worth noting that they have only won one of six historic meetings with Monday's opponents.

Three of the head-to-head meetings have been draws, with the stalemate priced at 12/5.

A Zambia upset is valued at 5/1.

With this being the opening game and neither side is expected to be at their best right away, BTTS - Yes appeals at 5/4.

Today's Football Fixtures

Match Result & Over/Under 3.5 Goals - Mali & Under @ 19/20

While the draw was tempting based on the head-to-head record and the fact that this is the opening game for both sides, I think Mali offer value to get off to a bright start.

As alluded to above, the Eagles have a lot more individual quality to call upon in their ranks while it does appear as though Zambia's hopes and dreams rests on Leicester's Daka, who has not been the most prolific player for the Foxes in the Championship this season - with just one goal in 2o appearances.

Mali have the likes of Doumbia, Nene and Toure to share the goal burden around and I think it is this variety of attacking options that should fire them to victory on Monday.

Of course, the 4/7 straight win is not the most enticing price, so I have added under 3.5 goals to the selection as four of their last five matches have seen fewer than four goals scored in the game.

Anytime Goalscorer - Kamory Doumbia @ 7/4

If you haven't guessed yet from reading this preview up to this point, I'm intrigued to see how Doumbia fares at this tournament. His goalscoring stats for Mali so far at age 22 are impressive and I think he can play a key role for the Eagles in Morocco.

He is a player who is not afraid to drive forward with the ball to try and open up space for both himself and his teammates. This often provides him with good opportunities to get shots off and against a Zambia side that looks like it is going to be outgunned here, I think he's a good price to get on the scoresheet.

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