AFCON 2012 tournament favourites Ivory Coast have been drawn in Group B and their first assignment comes against Sudan on Sunday. The betting suggests Drogba and co. should have few problems in starting with a win.

The Ivory Coast are trading around 2/7 to win this group which also includes Angola and Burkina Faso and around 13/8 to lift the trophy. They were also favourites for AFCON 2010 where they bowed out in the quarter finals losing 3-2 to Algeria (aet) and although they had a nightmare draw in the 2010 World Cup Finals when they were matched with Brazil and Portugal, they once again failed to live up to the “Africa's top team” tag. So why is there so much confidence things will be different this time around?

François Zahoui took over the reigns from the much traveled Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup disappointment and The Elephants appear to have responded positively. They are packed with talent from top European clubs including; Didier Zokora (Trabzonspor), Kolo and Yaya Toure (both Manchester City), Cheik Ismael Tiote (Newcastle), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Gervinho (Arsenal) and Seydou Doumbia (CSKA Moscow) and many more players from the top drawer. Most importantly, it's the results that take the eye. Ivory Coast coasted through qualifying with six straight wins, scoring 19 goals and conceding just four. Rwanda, Burundi and Benin provided token resistance in that particular group but there can little doubt The Elephants are in terrific shape for a real tilt at these finals and most definitely the team to beat. I wouldn't read too much into a low key 1-1 draw with a second string Bafana side in a warm up match or even the wins over Tunisia (2-0) and Libya (1-0) that followed in their final preperation games.

Sudan clinched their place in these finals as one of the best runners up in the qualifying group stage. They finished behind Ghana but well clear of Congo and Swaziland whom they beat home and away. Their most eye catching result was a 0-0 draw in Ghana. A squad of locally based players has been assembled and the bookmakers reckon they are the outsiders of the Group B quartet well into double digits. Sudan's warm up matches have been something of a mixed bag, a 3-0 loss to Tunisia, 1-0 defeat to the quietly fancied Senegal and 0-0 draw with co-host Gabon.

The Betting, Match Result

Ivory Coast 1 / 5 Sportingbet, Hollywood, Sportsbet

Draw 6/1 BetXchange, World Sports Betting

Sudan 16/1 BetXchange

Selected Others

Under 2.5 goals even money BetXchange, World Sports Betting

Over 2.5 goals 8/10 BetXchange, World Sports Betting

HT/FT IC/IC 13/20 Sportingbet, BetXchange, Sportingbet

Correct Score IC to win 2-0, 5/1 Ladbrokes

Note, odds are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Not all bookmakers had priced up at the time of writing and many more markets are available. Watch out for the option to bet “in play” where available

Analysis

If Ivory Coast are ready to hit their straps from the off then Sudan are really going struggle by the look of it although these early group games in tournaments of this nature often throw up a surprise or two. Sudan's 0-0 draw at Ghana in qualifying would have to be a concern for those expecting a comfortable win for the favourites and this game makes limited betting appeal for me. I'll speculate in the correct score market for interests sake.

Bet: Correct Score Ivory Coast to win 2-0 at 5/1 with Ladbrokes

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