Ivory Coast vs Burkina Faso Prediction: The Ivorians are at top level

Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny will host the African Nations Championship encounter between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. The two teams will head into this game, hoping for a winning result. How will this game unfold? I will look into the preview of this game and make predictions. 

Ivory Coast will hope to secure a win following a 4-1 win over Guinea. Pacome Loua, Kease Bah, Guy Bedi, and Samba Kone all netted for this side in that game. However, Ivory Coast have won three of their last five matches, defeating Chad and Sierra Leone. In the meantime, Ivory Coast lost to Sierra Leone and Zambia. Ivory Coast have won their last five matches at home and remain unbeaten in seven games. Ivory Coast scored 18 goals in that seven games while conceding four. 

Burkina Faso played Niger the previous time out, and they settled for a goalless draw in what was a friendly encounter. However, in their last competitive game, this team lost to Malawi, an encounter that ended 3-0. In that game, Burkina Faso were poor offensively, failing to find the back of the net despite attempting five shots on goal. However, looking at their overall last five games, Burkina Faso suffered defeats twice, one other against Senegal. Yet, they pulled off wins over Niger, Malawi and Burundi in that run. Away from home, Burkina Faso lost only once in their last five games. 

Burkina Faso have been competitive lately, but the level at which Ivory Coast are playing is just too high. While Ivory Coast are home in this one, I expect them to take their chances from the first half. In fact, while Burkina Faso have not been dominant offensively, I feel they will settle for a defensive play. Yet, Ivory Coast should be able to get things right from the first half and secure a 2-0 win at full-time.