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Morocco continue their 2021 AFCON campaign on Friday as they take on Comoros at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in their second group stage fixture.
A win here would probably be enough to secure a place in the knockout stage of the competition as they had a winning start to the competition, overcoming four-time champions Ghana 1-0 on Monday thanks to Sofiane Boufal's 83rd-minute winner.
Comoros suffered a narrow defeat against Gabon in their opener and to keep their knockout stage hopes alive, they will need to avoid a defeat here.
Morocco vs Comoros Head-to-Head
This will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides.
Morocco form guide (Africa Cup of Nations): W
Comoros form guide (African Cup of Nations): L
Morocco vs Comoros Team News
Morocco
The Atlas Lions had four players unavailable for the opening fixture against Ghana. Aymen Barkok and Ayoub El-Kaabi tested positive for COVID-19 and their participation in this game also remains doubtful.
Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri will miss the game on account of a knee injury. Badr Benoun tested negative for COVID-19 last week but continues to suffer from its repercussions.
He was replaced by Achraf Bencharki in the squad just before the game against Ghana. Vahid Halilhodžić is expected to field a similar starting XI as the one that faced Ghana.
Injured: Youssef En-Nesyri, Badr Benoun
Doubtful: Aymen Barkok, Ayoub El-Kaabi
Suspended: None
Comoros
Comoros are free from any injury concerns in their debut AFCON campaign and are expected to field a similar starting XI to the one that narrowly missed out on a draw against Gabon.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Morocco vs Comoros Predicted XI
Morocco Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Romain Saiss, Nayef Aguerd, Tarik Tissoudali; Samy Mmaee; Sofyan Amrabat, Faycal Fajr, Munir El Haddadi, Sofiane Boufal; Zakaria Aboukhlal
Comoros Predicted XI (4-4-2): Ali Ahamada; Kassim Abdallah, Nadjim Abdou, Younn Zahary, Kassim M'Dahoma; Faiz Mattoir, Yacine Bourhane, Rafidine Abdullah, Fouad Bachirou; Mohamed M'Changama, Youssouf M'Changama
Morocco vs Comoros Prediction
Most of the games in the AFCON group stages have been decided by one-goal margins while the rest have ended in goalless draws. Comoros had a solid qualifying campaign and conceded just twice while also scoring four times.
They registered just one shot on target against Gabon, and Les Coelacantes' lack of firepower could prove to be their undoing against a defensively solid Morocco team.
We predict Morocco will come away with a narrow win in this encounter.
Prediciton: Morocco 1-0 Comoros
