Botswana vs Mauritania Prediction: The home nation will keep things running

Francistown Stadium will be the venue for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying encounter between Botswana and Mauritania. The two teams will hope to win here. How will things unfold?

Botswana are coming off a win over Cape Verde in their last qualifying encounter. In that game, Botswana had only 31 percent of the possession, attempted seven shots, and converted one of the three that were on target. In the meantime, Botswana have won their last two matches, both coming against Cape Verde, which ended 1-0. However, Botswana have only six points from a possible 12 in their first four qualifying matches, scoring two goals and conceding five. 

Mauritania's last encounter was against Egypt, and they lost. In that encounter, Ibrahim Adel's lone strike in the 85th minute was the difference, handing Mauritania their third defeat in a row. In fact, Mauritania's lone victory in recent matches was against Botswana, an encounter that ended 1-0. In the run of recent matches, Mauritania lost to Cape Verde, Senegal, and Egypt. In the Group C AFCON qualifying standings, Mauritania sit in the bottom spot, the same points as third-placed Cape Verde. 

Botswana were brilliant against Cape Verde in their last outings, and I expect more from them. While Mauritania have not had things easy in recent matches, they did secure a win in the first leg of this game. The two teams are expected to give their best, but at home, I expect this game to be a win for Botswana, as they will look to get revenge for their first-leg defeat.