Madagascar vs Tunisia Prediction: Tunisia are expected to respond to their recent poor results

Loftus Versfeld will be the venue for the round five Africa Cup of Nations qualifying encounter between Madagascar and Tunisia. The home team sits bottom of Group A, while the visiting side are top of the table. How will his game unfold?

Madagascar struggled against Gamba in their last AFCON encounter and lost. In a game that ended 1-0, Musa Barrow's second-half goal was all their opponent needed to take maximum points despite having missed from the spot before the half. However, Madagascar failed to win any of their first four qualifying matches, losing two and drawing two. Seated bottom spot of Group A, Madagascar scored twice in four games while conceding four. 

Tunisia were held to a 1-1 draw the previous time out in this qualifier by Comoros and will eye a win here. In that encounter, Tunisia needed to come from behind to avoid a defeat, thanks to Yassine Meriah's 68th-minute strike. In the meantime, Tunisia have failed to win their last two matches in the qualifier, losing to Comoros at home in the first leg. Yet, this team sits top of the qualifying standings with seven points, scoring four goals and conceding three.

Madagascar at home still does not look enticing, and I do not trust them against a Tunisian side that can do and undo things. While looking at the winning chances and what we saw in September, I expect better offensive play from the two sides, as they are expected not to focus on defensive play but rather on taking maximum points. Take Tunisia to win, a game where Madagascar could also get on the scoresheet.