Friday night's action in the AFCON 2012 comes from Group C and the first game sees Niger take on Tunisia in Libreville.

Tunisia made the perfect start to their campaign with a 2-1 win in a North African derby with Morocco and they now face the group outsiders Niger in the knowledge that another win will all but guarantee a place in the quarter finals. It would also put them in with a strong shout of topping the group with Gabon also going well after winning their opener and a comeback from Morocco can't be ruled out. Tunisia got their tactics spot on in the opening game, they rode their luck at times but countered well and held firm in defence until Morocco pulled a goal back five minutes from full time. Considering the Tunisia coach had expressed fears over the lack of regular football played by many of his squad going into the finals, it's possible further improvement could be made and that is going to make them hard to beat from here onwards, starting with Niger.

Niger were beaten 2-0 by co-hosts Gabon in their opening game. Both goals came in the first half to effectively seal the game by the break and it leaves them with a mountain to climb. A draw here would keeps slim hopes of a quarter final place alive but another defeat would almost certainly leave progression from the group out of range. The task hasn't been made any easier with midfielder Moutari Amadou returning home after picking up an injury against Gabon. There is no head to head data to help us out here but Niger can point to the fact they have beaten North African opposition in the form of Egypt in qualifying, a 1-0 on home soil where their strength lies. A young Egypt side did however get revenge later in the campaign with a 3-0 win in Cairo. With plus points few and far between, Niger will start this game as huge underdogs in the betting markets.

Libreville (Gabon) where these teams played their opening game is the venue for this clash.

The Betting, Match Result

Niger 12/1 BetXchange

Draw 4/1 BetXchange, Ladbrokes

Tunisia 1 – 3 BetXchange

Selected Others

Under 2.5 goals 8/10 Voltbet

Over 2.5 goals 21/20 Voltbet, Sportingbet

HT/FT Tun/Tun 8/11 Sportingbet

Correct Score Tunisia win 1-0, at 6/1 Ladbrokes

Correct Score Tunisia win 2-0, at 5/1 Ladbrokes

Correct Score Tunisia win 2-1, at 17/2 Sportingbet

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

Tunisia mustn't get carried away by the terrific result in the opening game and they seem a level headed enough group of players to cope with this. However, Niger are pretty much at the last chance saloon already and this might not be quite as straight forward as the betting suggests. I fancy Tunisia to win by a single goal margin and my play here is to take two correct score bets, 1-0 and 2-1 to the favourites.

Bets: Correct Score Tunisia win 1-0, at 6/1 Ladbrokes

Correct Score Tunisia win 2-1, at 17/2 Sportingbet

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