Gabon will welcome their Guinea-Bissau counterparts to the Stade Omnisport President Omar Bongo Ondimba in an international friendly on Monday.
The hosts will aim to extend their unbeaten run against Guinea-Bissau to three games, while the visiting side seeks their first win in this match-up.
Match preview
Gabon will come into this fixture off the back of a 4-3 friendly loss to a 10-man Niger Republic in their last outing on Friday.
The Panthers, who were without Al Qadsiah striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, struggled in the first 45 minutes, but they gave a good account of themselves in the second half of the game.
That outcome meant that the home side are without a victory in their last four friendly matches, since their 3-1 win against the same opponents in November 2022.
That said, Thierry Mouyouma will be pleased with the attacking output of his charges, having plundered eight goals in their last three exertions across all competitions, with at least three recorded in two of the three fixtures.
However, their defensive showing has been below par, with five goals conceded in two games; Gabon will need to improve in that area.
Elsewhere, Guinea-Bissau are going through a rough patch at the moment, and the Guinean manager has his work cut out for him.
In their last outing, they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of lowly-rated Burundi, a side 12 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
Even more worrisome for the Dromedaries is the fact that they have lost all but two of their last 10 fixtures, with the exceptions being two draws.
Despite making it to all the editions of the African Cup of Nations since their debut in 2017, Boa Morte’s men have struggled in the past few months.
Central to their problem is a leaky rearguard, which has seen them ship 14 goals in their last matches, an average of two goals conceded per game.
A win for the visitors will see them record their first triumph since a 1-0 win over Eswatini in September 2024.
Gabon International Friendlies form:
Gabon form (all competitions):
Guinea-Bissau International Friendlies form:
Guinea-Bissau form (all competitions):
Team News
Mouyouma would have loved to do battle with his trusted regulars all available, but he will have to cope with the absence of some key players.
Al Qadsiah man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the most notable absentee from the latest Gabon squad.
Los Angeles FC star Denis Bouanga is also not part of the squad, as he has been left out, while Aaron Appindangoye, who plies his trade in Turkey with Kocaelispor, is also unavailable owing to an unspecified injury.
For the visiting side, Beto is a surprise omission from Boa Morte’s roster ahead of this encounter.
However, there is a maiden invitation for 18-year-old Renato Nhaga, who plays in Portugal for Casa Pia.
Gabon possible starting lineup:
Fotso; J. Oyono, A. Oyono, Moussa, Mboula; Lemina, Sambissa, Poko, Babanzila; Meyo, Mbina
Guinea-Bissau possible starting lineup:
Djalo; Cande, Batista, Dabo, S.Camara; Balde, Bura, M. Camara, Gomes; Teixeira, Dju
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We say: Gabon 2-1 Guinea-Bissau
Despite the absence of some key players for the Gabonese, the hosts remain the favourites, considering the form of both sides; therefore, we are backing the home side to claim a 2-1 win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats, suggests the most likely outcome of this match is a Gabon win with a probability of 62.36%. A draw has a probability of 22.3% and a win for Guinea-Bissau has a probability of 15.35%.
The most likely scoreline for a Gabon win is 1-0 with a probability of 13.58%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome are 2-0 (12.38%) and 2-1 (9.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline is 1-1 (10.5%), while for a Guinea-Bissau win it is 0-1 (5.76%).
