Coral and Opta look ahead to the final at the Africa Cup of Nations
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Opta stats for the Africa Cup of Nations
The final of the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is at last upon us as Senegal take on Egypt on Sunday.
Sadio Mane-inspired Senegal are the 21/20 favourites to lift the trophy, whilst his Liverpool team-mate Mo Salah leads the line for an Egypt side who are 3/1 to win in 90 minutes.
The Pharaohs have won the Africa Cup of Nations seven times in the past, but have twice required penalty shoot-outs to progress in the knockout stages. They are 6/4 to lift the trophy and 15/2 if this is decided from 12 yards once again.
Before the main event comes the third-place play-off on Saturday between hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso and Coral have teamed up with Opta one last time to again provide all the key player stats for the big games.
- Vincent Aboubakar remains AFCON 2021’s top-scorer with six goals, the most-ever by a Cameroon player in a single edition. The Cameroon striker is looking to become the first player to score seven goals at AFCON since 1998, achieved by both Hossam Hassan (Egypt) and Benni McCarthy (South Africa) in 1998.
- Cameroon striker Aboubakar has mustered 28 shots at AFCON 2021, eight more than any other player. Aboubakar’s tally is also the most of any player in a single edition of the competition since Opta have this data (2010).
- Hellas Verona’s Martin Hongla and Al-Tai FC’s Collins Fai lead the way at AFCON 2021 in terms of assists, with the two Cameroon stars registering three each so far. The last player to manage more in a single edition of AFCON was Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel in 2013 with Nigeria (four).
The hosts will be disappointed not to make the final, but can pick up some small consolation here by taking home the bronze medals. They are 11/10 for victory in 90 minutes, with the gutsy Burkina Faso 12/5 to end their breakout tournament on a high.
Senegal
- Mané has scored three goals at the 2022 AFCON, scoring those goals from just seven shots on target (43% conversion ratio). Mané is Senegal’s all-time leading scorer at AFCON with eight goals and is looking to becoming the first ever Senegalese player to score both four goals in a single tournament and score in a final.
- As well as being involved in the most goals for Senegal at the 2022 AFCON (three goals, two assists), Mané is also the only Senegalese player to reach double figures for both shots (12) and chances created (14). Mané has created five chances in two separate matches this tournament (vs Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso), the first player to do that at a single tournament since Rainford Kalaba in 2013 for Zambia.
- Senegal’s Bamba Dieng has scored with both of his shots on target in this year’s AFCON and is averaging a goal every 76 minutes in the tournament. Aged 21, he is the youngest player to score more than once at the 2022 AFCON.
Egypt
- Since his AFCON debut in 2017, Egypt’s Salah has registered nine goal involvements (six goals, three assists), a haul bettered by only one player in that time (Mané – 10). No other Egyptian player has had a hand in more than three goals in that time.
- Salah has created 27 goal-scoring chances for Egypt at AFCON since his 2017 debut, just three off the record by a player in that time (Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri with 30). At AFCON 2021, Salah has registered a joint-high tally of 16 chances created (level with Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal).
- Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny has registered 296 passes at AFCON 2021, the most of any Egypt player. Indeed, since his AFCON debut in 2017, only two other players have attempted more passes than Elneny (688), Cameroon’s Michael Ngadeu (914) and Senegal’s Idrissa Gueye (744).
The clash of the Liverpool front men could ultimately decide the destination of the Africa Cup of Nations trophy. Salah is 5/1 to break the deadlock and 5/2 to add to his AFCON tally at anytime, while Mane is 11/5 for a goal in the final and a huge 16/1 to grab two or more.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
