Senegal will fancy their chances to reach the semi-finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations when they face Benin in Cairo on Wednesday.

The Teranga Lions have underlined their status as one of the favourites for the title with a string of stellar displays. They booked their place in the last eight with 1-0 victory over Uganda. 

Their opponents, Benin, have shown enough in Egypt for opponents to know they are no pushovers.  

The Squirrels shocked Morocco in the round of 16, having earlier avoided defeats in the group stage against former champions Cameroon and Ghana. 

What is kick-off time?

The match will start at exactly 16:00GMT

What is the form of Senegal in comparison to Benin?

The Teranga Lions have won all but one of their games during the competition and in all their matches they have triumphed, they’ve kept a clean sheet.

The Squirrels have still never won an AFCON match in regulation time with eight defeats and five draws from 13 previous matches.

Team News: Who is available, injured or suspended?

Senegal: Aliou Cisse’s men are all available for the match.

Benin: Khaled Adenon has been suspended following his red card incident in the win against Morocco.

Quotes

Aliou Cisse: We should give every team its right and respect Benin without lessening from it. There are no small teams in Africa, the quality is very similar. The game will not be easy and no one can predict what will happen. Yes on the paper we are one of the favourites to win the cup but papers don’t decide anything. Benin’s match might be a trap.

Salif Sane: All the teams here have one goal, which is winning the tournament. We will also give everything to be crowned champions. Benin is not there by chance, that’s why we should respect to avoid defeat.

Michel Dussuyer: Senegal’s match is a huge challenge for us because it’s one of the great teams in Africa. Our presence in this stage is not out of luck, we worked hard and I believe in my players.

Oliver Verdon: No one expected us at the African Cup of Nations, but here we are surprising everyone and proving that we’re a team worthy of respect.

Head to Head record

The two teams have met six times and Senegal has emerged victorious most with four wins as against Benin who has won once and both sharing the spoils on one occasion.

Predicted XI

SENEGAL: Gomis, Koulibaly, Wague, Kouyate, Sane, Ndiaye Gueye, Diatta, Balde, Konate, Sadio Mane

BENIN: Fabien Farnolle, Enangon David Kiki, Olivier Verdon, Sessi D’Almeida, Moise Adilehou, Seidou Bazare, Mickaël Poté, Seibou Mama, Jordan Adeoti, Cebio Soukou, Steve Mounie. 

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