Our prediction for this match:
Tuesday’s friendly at Stade de la Licorne pits together Senegal and Benin, the two African sides. The Lions of Teranga rolled over Gabon 3-0 at the weekend and we are positive that they will adopt yet another attack-minded approach against Benin. Former Liverpool ace Sadio Mane is widely expected to start this time out after scoring as a substitute against Gabon, with Al Shabab forward Habib Diallo pushing for a start as well.
Les Guepards, meanwhile, are on a seven-game winless run in all competitions, which is probably the main reason why we are going to bet on Senegal. A man to keep an eye on in the away team will be Troyes midfielder Junior Olaitan, who scored a brace in a 2-2 draw with Ivory Coast on Saturday. You should know that Senegal have defeated Benin in six of the previous seven meetings between the two sides.
Highlighted Player (Kalidou Koulibaly):
Despite being born in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, France on June 20, 1991, Kalidou Koulibaly represents Senegal on the international stage. Koulibaly began his youth career at Saint-Die, but he played for Metz at the start of his career as well.
The left-footed defender continued playing for les Grenats at the senior level and it has to be noted that he made 42 appearances in the league for the club before joining Genk in 2012. In 2014 Koulibaly signed a five-year deal with Napoli for a fee of £6.5 million. In August 2014 the Senegal international made his Champions League debut in a 1-1 draw with Athletic Club.
Kalidou Koulibaly is a tall, quick and physically strong footballer, who is impressive in the air. He is capable of playing as both centre and full back. The Napoli defender made his Senegal debut in September 2015 against Namibia. In 2017 he represented the Lions of Teranga at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Highlighted Team (Benin):
Benin are the African football team that were known as Dahomey national football team until 1975. The Squirrels have never qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals, but they will compete for the fourth time at the Africa Cup of Nations at the tournament in Egypt 2019.
Oumar Tchomogo’s team were grouped with the likes of Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Cameroon in the group stages of the competition. Benin’s home kit is predominantly yellow, whilst they wear green shirts, green shorts and red socks when playing on the travels. The African side recorded their biggest win on December 27, 1961, with the team beating Mauritania 7-0 under the name of Dahomey.
Two years earlier, though, they were crushed by Nigeria 10-1, which is considered their biggest ever loss on the international stage. Benin usually host their rivals at Stade de l’Amitie, the venue with the capacity of 20,000. The Squirrels played their first ever international game on November 8, 1959, with the team suffering a 1-0 loss to Nigeria.