[monks data]

Friendlies 1

Oct 13, 2020 at 7.30pm UK

Nigeria
1 - 1
Tunisia

Iheanacho (21')
Iwobi (55'), Iheanacho (78')

FT(HT: 1-1)

Drager (44')
Rafia (10'), Bronn (12'), Ben Mustapha (28'), Meriah (55'), Khazri (76'), (84')

Preview: Nigeria vs. Tunisia - prediction, team news, lineups

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 11 October 2020

Sports Mole previews Tuesday's international friendly between Nigeria and Tunisia, including team news and predicted lineups.

Nigeria will be aiming to recover from Friday's defeat to Algeria when they take on Tunisia in an international friendly at Jacques Lemans Arena in Austria on Tuesday night.

Gernot Rohr's team saw a three-game winning run come to an end against Algeria, but Tunisia will enter the clash with the Super Eagles off the back of a 3-0 victory over Sudan on the same night.

Match preview

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr before the match against Argentina on June 26, 2018 © Reuters

Nigeria's clash against Algeria was actually their first contest for almost 12 months due to the coronavirus outbreak, and it proved to be a disappointing return to the field as an early effort from Ramy Bensebaini handed the Africa Cup of Nations holders a narrow win.

Rohr's team have not been in competitive action since a 4-2 win over Lesotho last November, which made it back-to-back victories at the start of their Africa Cup of Nations qualification group.

The Super Eagles are currently top of Group L, and Tuesday's game will act as valuable preparation as they build towards their next qualification game against Sierra Leone on November 13, before facing the same opponents in the reverse fixture four days later.

Rohr has not been able to select his strongest squad for the two friendlies, with Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi and Napoli's Victor Osimhen notable absentees.

Nigeria's squad is still full of talent, though, and the likes of Everton's Alex Iwobi and Villarreal's Samuel Chukwueze should both be in action for the three-time Africa Cup of Nations winners.

Tunisia's Youssef Msakni celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates on June 11, 2019 © Reuters

Tunisia, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a 3-0 win over Sudan on Friday, with Saif-Eddine Khaoui, Ali Maaloul and Anis Ben Slimane scoring the goals in the international friendly.

Like Nigeria, Mondher Kebaier's side will resume their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign next month, facing Tanzania in back-to-back games on November 13 and November 17.

Tunisia have also picked up two wins thus far, beating Libya and Equatorial Guinea to top Group J with six points, and they will be eyeing six more points when they return to competitive action in a month.

These two sides last locked horns in the third-place playoff at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, and it was Nigeria that triumphed 1-0 courtesy of an early goal from on-loan Manchester United forward Odion Ighalo.

Interestingly, both teams have won six of their previous 19 meetings in all competitions, with the further seven encounters finishing level, but this will be their first friendly game since 1992.

Nigeria International Friendlies form: DWDDDL
Nigeria form (all competitions): LDWWWL

Tunisia International Friendlies form: WWWLDW
Tunisia form (all competitions): WDWWWW

Team News

Nigeria's William Troost-Ekong celebrates scoring their second goal against South Africa on July 10, 2019 © Reuters

As mentioned, Nigeria are without two key players in the shape of Ndidi and Osimhen, but Rohr has still selected an experienced squad, and there are not expected to be too many changes from the side that started against Algeria.

Iwobi and Chukwueze should again feature in forward positions, while there could be a start for Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho at the tip of the attack.

Rangers centre-back Leon Balogun featured alongside Watford's William Troost-Ekong against Algeria and that could again be the case on Tuesday, while Ola Aina is pushing for a spot at left-back.

As for Tunisia, former Sunderland attacker Wahbi Khazri is the leading scorer in the squad with 19 goals, and the 29-year-old should again feature in the final third of the field.

There could also be another start for Juventus Under-23s attacker Hamza Rafia, while Khaoui was on the scoresheet against Sudan and is likely to continue in a forward area.

Ferjani Sassi is among the most experienced members of the Tunisian squad with 56 caps, but the 28-year-old was not involved against Sudan and could again be on the bench for this contest.

Nigeria possible starting lineup:
Okoye, Ebuehi, Troost-Ekong, Balogun, Sanusi; Ayaji, Onyeka; Chukwueze, Iwobi, Kalu; Iheanacho

Tunisia possible starting lineup:
Ben Cherifia; Kechrida, Bronn, Mariah, Maaloul; Slimane, Skhiri, Ben Mohamed; Rafia, Khazri, Khaoui

SM words green background

We say: Nigeria 1-1 Tunisia

Both teams will be using this game as valuable preparation for their return to competitive action next month, and it should be an interesting match in Austria. Three of the last four meetings between the two sides have finished level, though, and we are expecting another close encounter on Tuesday night.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Tunisia win with a probability of 36.39%. A win for Nigeria had a probability of 33.6% and a draw had a probability of 30%.

The most likely scoreline for a Tunisia win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.24%) and 0-2 (7.11%). The likeliest Nigeria win was 1-0 (12.57%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.49%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.5% likelihood.