STAR PREVIEW Weds: Burkina Faso v Senegal

We’re into the business end of what’s been another dramatic Africa Cup of Nations and Burkina Faso and Senegal will both be hoping to make it to the very end when they battle it out in the first semi-final clash on Wednesday.

Both of these sides have been finalists before, with Burkina Faso reaching the final-two in 2013 and Senegal in 2019, but neither nation has gone all the way and won the tournament before, which will add an extra edge to Wednesday’s match.

Despite losing their opening match of the tournament to host nation Cameroon, Burkina Faso have ended up becoming the dark-horses of this tournament; battling their way to the last-four of the competition against all odds.

They stunned Tunisia in their last outing, Lorient forward Dango Ouattara grabbing the only goal of the match on the stroke of half-time. The young forward Ouattara showed his inexperience, though, by later picking up a red card meaning he will be suspended for this semi-final.

Burkina Faso v Senegal
Africa Cup of Nations 2021 Semi-Final
19:00 BBC Three / Sky Sports Premier League / BBC iPlayer / Sky Sports Mix / BBC Sport Website

HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
(Maximum of 10 matches)
SEP 2017 WORLD CUP Burkina Faso 2-2 Senegal
SEP 2017 WORLD CUP Senegal 0-0 Burkina Faso
MAY 2014 FRIENDLY Burkina Faso 1-1 Senegal
SEP 2007 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Senegal 5-1 Burkina Faso
OCT 2006 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Burkina Faso 1-0 Senegal
JAN 2004 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Burkina Faso 0-0 Senegal
DEC 2001 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Senegal 2-4 Burkina Faso
JAN 2000 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Burkina Faso 1-3 Senegal
JUN 1999 AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS Senegal 1-1 Burkina Faso
AUG 1998 FRIENDLY Burkina Faso 1-1 Senegal

Senegal have been a side that have slowly but surely grown into this tournament and now appear to be hitting top gear when it really matters.

They stumbled out of the blocks a little bit in their first match of the tournament against Zimbabwe, needing a stoppage-time spot-kick from Liverpool forward Sadio Mane to secure the win, but we’ve seen a steady improvement from Aliou Cisse’s side who are now 6/4 favourites to win the tournament with starsports.bet.

Mane, who has scored 8 goals in 20 Premier League appearances for Liverpool this season, possesses the pace, power and trickery to cause Burkina Faso serious problems. If he’s afforded the freedom to show what he is capable of in this match, Senegal will have a great chance of progressing to the final.

Burkina Faso shouldn’t be underestimated in this match; they’ve proven themselves to be a strong side in this tournament and have progressed to this stage on merit. However, with Senegal now appearing to be fully in their stride, they should have too much for The Stallions. We’re backing Senegal to win to nil here.

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