Egypt vs Ethiopia Prediction: Incredible Egypt to dominate the show

When Egypt and Ethiopia square off against one another at the 30 June Stadium on Friday, it will be the final qualifying match for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations for both teams. The seven-time African champions will be hoping to go one over on the Wali Ibex and pick up an eighth win in a row after suffering a loss to them in the last matchup, which took place in June 2022 and was decided by a score of 2-0.

On June 18, Egypt defeated South Sudan 3-0 in a friendly at the Cairo International Stadium, and they put up another stellar display. Mostafa Fathy, Kahraba, and Mahmoud Trezeguet, a forward for Trabzonspor, scored for the Pharaohs in a lopsided victory. Egypt has won three straight games in qualifying for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations after losing 2-0 to Friday's visitors in June of that year. The seven-time AFCON champions' next opponent is a team that hasn't beaten them in 14 of the last 17 matches (losing 11 and drawing 3). Group D leaders Rui Vitoria's squad has 12 points after 15 games, three more than second-placed Guinea, who play Malawi on Saturday. Since losing 4-1 to South Korea in a friendly in June 2022, Egypt has won each of their previous seven matches across all competitions.

The match between Ethiopia and Guyana that took place at Loudoun United's Segra Field on the previous Sunday resulted in Ethiopia's return to winning ways with a resounding 2-0 victory over their opponent. Veteran midfielder Shimelis Bekele was the hero for the hosts as he scored two goals, one on either side of the half-time break, to send Jamaal Shabazz's team their second consecutive loss. The Daniel Deribe-captained team had a losing streak of six games straight prior to that in all competitions. As a result of this skid, they only managed to pick up one point out of the last nine that were available in Group D of the AFCON qualifiers. Ethiopia is now in last place in the group rankings with four points out of a possible 15, tied in points with another team that is also having trouble, Malawi, and five points behind the team that is currently in second place, Guinea. The African champions from 1962 will be hoping to walk away from the qualifying tournament with their heads held high, despite the fact that they have struggled to get good results away from home. They are now mired in a five-game losing streak away from home and have not won any of their past 12 games since the year 2020.

Egypt possible starting lineup:

El-Shennawy; Hany, Gabr, Abdelmonem, Hamdi; Hamada, Fathy; Marmoush, Fathi, Sherif; Mohamed

Ethiopia possible starting lineup:

Habtumu: Adugba, Tanner, Baye; Markneh, Yohannes, Bekele, Yesuf; Shubisa, Tadesse, Tarekegn

Egypt enter the weekend as one of the most in-form sides in the qualifiers, and they will be seeking to prolong their strong run against the Wali Ibex. Egypt will be making a record-extending 26th appearance at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), but they will still want to complete their run in the qualifications with a victory in front of their fans. They will also be thinking about getting revenge after being defeated in the matchup against the same opponent the previous year. Ethiopia got off to a strong start in the qualifications by pulling off an upset victory over Egypt, but they were unable to capitalize on their early lead and continue their winning streak. Our money is on the home team to not only come out on top but also to keep a clean sheet in the process.