Senegal vs Botswana Prediction: Senegal to start with a bang

Senegal and Botswana both begin their Africa Cup of Nations campaigns on Tuesday afternoon (15:00 GMT, live on 4seven) as both sides will be looking to get off to a winning start.

The Teranga Lions arrive as one of the tournament favourites, and the Zebras are still searching for their first-ever win at an Afcon finals. Read on for my Senegal vs Botswana predictions, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Senegal’s squad is led by Sadio Mane, who heads into his sixth Afcon tournament with a respectable record of nine goals in 22 appearances.

Assane Diao has been ruled out of the tournament with a thigh injury, and Ilay Camara is also on the treatment table, but Ismaila Sarr, Diarra and Ismail Jakobs should all feature here despite fitness concerns.

Meanwhile, Botswana have no injury concerns to deal with heading into their Group D opener and should be at full strength in their attempts to claim a maiden win.

Senegal vs Botswana Odds

Senegal are 2/11 favourites for Tuesday's tie, giving them an implied probability of 84.6%, the draw is 11/2 and it's 16/1 for Botswana to cause a mighty upset.

Both teams to score can be backed at 7/4, while Mane leads the anytime goalscorer market at 19/20.

Correct Score - Senegal 3-0 @ 11/2

As mentioned in the introduction, Senegal are among the tournament favourites, and I full expect them to kick-off their campaign with a convincing win.

The Teranga Lions won their only previous meetings with Botswana, scoring five times without conceding, and something similar looks likely on Tuesday.

Botswana have conceded at least two goals in four of their last five matches, and with Senegal’s attacking depth, a big scoreline looks appealing, so I'm taking a 3-0 win at 11/2.

Sadio Mane to score first @ 11/4

Mane is Senegal's all-time leading goalscorer having found the net 51 times in 119 appearances – at least 22 more than former striker Henri Camara, who sits next on the list.

Even at 33, the Al Nassr forward remains a key cog in Senegal's attack, having recently scored a hat-trick against Kenya. Interestingly, Senegal have never lost a match in which Mane has scored (W37, D5).

The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich winger is odds-on to score anytime on Tuesday, so I'm backing him to break the deadlock at 11/4.

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