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As the qualifying campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the AFCON region, Algeria host minnows Djibouti at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida on Thursday.
The Desert Foxes have had a superb calendar year so far, drawing once and winning successive games in five international games.
While their first two games were in qualifying for the 2022 AFCON, the reigning African champions beat Mauritania, Mali and Tunisia in June's friendlies.
Going into this week's clash, Djamel Belmadi's side are the obvious favorites, with Djibouti not really the most intimidating outfit.
One of the lowest-ranked sides in the world, the Shoremen of the Red Sea beat Eswatini 2-1 on aggregate in the first round but have since won only twice, including a friendly game against Somalia.
Algeria vs Djibouti Head-To-Head
Despite being in the same zone for decades, this will be the first-ever meeting between Algeria and Djibouti.
Algeria Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-W-W-W
Djibouti Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-L-L-W
Algeria vs Djibouti Team News
Algeria
Head coach Djamel Belmadi has named a fairly competitive squad with key players like Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani, Ismael Bennacer, Soufiane Feghouli and captain Aissa Mandi all featuring.
Goalkeeper Abderrahmane Medjadel and midfielder Adem Zorgane are looking for their first international caps.
Napoli winger Adam Ounas hasn't been called up.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Adam Ounas
Djibouti
The Shoremen of the Red Sea have a fairly young squad, with just one player having more than 20 caps for the national side.
Midfielder Haroun Kadamy returns to the national side after seven long years while Anas Farah Ali is in line to make his international debut.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Algeria vs Djibouti Predicted XI
Algeria (4-3-3): Rais M'Bolhi; Houcine Benyada, Aissa Mandi, Djamel Benlamri, Ramy Bensebaini; Soufiane Feghouli, Ramiz Zerrouki, Haris Belkebla; Riyad Mahrez, Baghdad Bounedjah, Youcef Belaili.
Djibouti (5-3-2): Innocent Mbonihankuye; Abass Fouad, Mohamed Bourhan, Fouad Moussa, Yabe Siad, Daoud Wais; Omar Elmi, Warsama Hassan, Abdi Hamza; Mahdi Mahabheh, Samuel Ekinbinu.
Algeria vs Djibouti Prediction
Algeria are one of the best African sides in terms of quality and not to mention, they're the reigning AFCON winners too.
Djibouti, ranked 182 in the world, are not expected to give Algeria a run for their money.
Prediction: Algeria 2-0 Djibouti
