Morocco U23 vs Egypt U23 Prediction: Can the Atlas Cubs register a goal against the Egyptians for the first time in this competition?

The host nation have benefited from their home support in this competition, but can they overthrow the Young Pharaohs at the Stade Prince Moulay Stadium on Saturday? This has been one of the most exciting U23 AFCON tournaments so far; however, Morocco must look beyond just their fans to defeat an organised Egyptian side tomorrow.

The hosts have been fantastic in this tournament, having gone four games with three victories and a draw at full-time. The Atlas Cubs began the tournament with a great (2-1) victory over a strong Guinea side. The next game followed a (5-1) thrashing of Ghana. They secured the ticket to the semi-finals following a (0-1) win against Republic of Congo.

More recently, Mali made them suffer as they held on till extra time before being knocked out on penalties. It was one of the most intense games of the tournament, as both sides scored before full-time and got goals in the extra period.

Morocco's young side, dominated by foreign players, played their hearts out and are now the leading-scoring country in competition.

Morocco have benefited from the home support but must be wary of the Egyptians.

They began their journey with a toothless stalemate against debutant Mali. The result was followed by a more convincing (1-0) victory over Mali U23 before a (0-2) win in their final group game. They eliminated Guinea in the semifinals as Mohammed Shehata scored the only goal that got his side the victory.

The young Egyptians are the only side yet to concede in this tournament and have scored four times since their toothless stalemate at the beginning of the campaign.

The Egyptians have been one of the best sides in Africa and were one of the few that represented Africa in the Olympics 2020. Egypt were knocked out of the competition in the quarterfinals by Brazil. Since then, they have been exceptional and are unbeaten in the last fourteen games. Egypt U23 are the defending champions, and we are confident they’ll give us a great game here.

Their only meeting ended in a five-goal thriller when Morocco defeated Egypt on (3-2) aggregate. The Atlas Cubs were lucky to have made it to this round after their performance against Mali in the semifinals. They have enjoyed the massive home support since the beginning of the tournament. They have been vulnerable at the back in their last two matches, unlike the Young Egyptians, who are yet to concede in this competition. Both sides have an equal opportunity to win here, but we expect a more cagey game that will end in a share of the spoils.

It’s going to be tough to get past Hamza Alaa, who has been fantastic for Egypt in this tournament; we expect a total of under 2.5 goals for 1.40.

Finally, Morocco seems to be our favourite pick here just because they play at home.