Stade Malien vs Stellenbosch Prediction: Expect a very competitive game

Stade Malien and Stellenbosch will battle it out in round 1 of the CAF Confederation Cup at Stade du 26 Mars. This will be the first-ever meeting between these teams. Will there be a winner?

Stade Malien pulled off a 3-1 win over Paynesville the previous time out and will hope for a similar result. In that encounter, Stade Malien scored three times before the break, with Moctar Cisse and Soumaila Magassouba striking before Emmanuel Deanneh's own goal. However, this team lost one of their last matches while drawing with Bakaridjan and Korofina. In another encounter, the home team defeated Real Bamako 1-0, making it four goals in their last five games while conceding two.  

​Stellenbosch's last encounter was against TS Galaxy, and they settled for a 1-1 draw. In that encounter, Fawaaz Basadien netted in the second minute to put Stellenbosch in the lead before a 72nd Nkoiskhona Radebe denied them maximum points. However, the visitors' lone defeat in recent matches came against Marumo Gallants, which ended 1-0. Heading into this game, Stellenbosch defeated Chippa United and Marumo Gallants while settling for a goalless draw with Richards Bay.

This is a tough encounter to predict and very tough to write either side off, looking at their recent performances. While the home team is playing well, the visiting team lost only one of their last games. The two teams should focus on defensive play here, as we could expect few goals. Also, while at home and with good experience in this competition, a bet on a few goals is another option.