In the second of their two friendly fixtures scheduled for September, Egypt square off against Liberia at the Borg El Arab Stadium on Tuesday.
The Lone Stars failed to secure their place in the 2022 Africa Nations Championship back in July and will be looking to pick up a morale-boosting result ahead of their AFCON qualifying fixtures.
Match preview
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In what was his first game in charge of Egypt, newly-appointed head coach Rui Vitoria watched on as his side cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Niger when the sides squared off on Friday.
In a one-sided affair at the Borg El Arab Stadium, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah put the Menas to the sword as he scored either side of Mostafa Mohamed's 54th-minute strike to cap off a brilliant individual performance.
Prior to that, the Pharaohs suffered a somewhat disappointing 2-0 loss against Ethiopia in their second game in Group D of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on June 9, before losing 4-1 against South Korea in a friendly matchup five days later.
The record seven-time African champions, who have won each of their last nine games on home turf, will head into the midweek matchup looking to pick up consecutive wins for the first time since the 2022 AFCON in February,
Egypt will fancy their chances of keeping their solid home form going as their next task pits them against a Liberia side who have lost each of the last three meetings between the nations and four of their six encounters since 1989.
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Liberia, on the other hand, failed to make it two wins from two for the first time since consecutive victories over Congo and Zimbabwe in 2018 as they were held to a goalless draw by Niger on Sunday.
This followed a 2-1 win over Senegal in the second leg of their 2022 Africa Nations Championship qualifying clash on July 30, when Sedeki Kromah and Nicholas Andrews scored second-half goals to cancel out Raymond Ndour's 34th-minute opener.
However, Peter Butler's men failed to secure their place in the seventh edition of the continental tournament for home-based players as they were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by the Lions of Teranga after suffering a 3-0 defeat in the reverse leg on July 24.
The Lone Stars head into Tuesday winless in all but one of their seven games across all competitions this year, picking up one draw and losing five, while scoring three goals and shipping 13 in that time.
Team News
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After watching his side ease to victory against Niger, we expect Vitoria to deploy his preferred 4-3-3 formation, with the defence line of Omar Gaber, Ahmed Hegazy, Mahmoud Hamdi and Mohamed Hamdi shielding Mohamed El-Shenawy in goal once again.
Mahmoud Hamada was one of four outfield players to play the full 90 minutes against the Menas and the 29-year-old midfielder could drop to the substitutes' bench on Tuesday, Emam Ashour pushing for a place in the XI following his impressive cameo.
Former Aston Villa man Mahmoud Trezeguet, who boasts 57 caps to his name, could also be handed a starting role, potentially teaming up with Ashour and Wolfsburg man Omar Marmoush at the centre of the park.
Salah was a standout performer against Niger last time out, and the Liverpool man, who has 51 goals for the Pharaohs, should lead the attack once again, alongside Nantes' Mohamed.
Meanwhile, Liberia have called up 21 players for their friendlies against Niger and Egypt, with Romania-based goalkeeper Boison Wynney and Slavia Prague man Oscar Dorley headlining the team.
Kromah, whose equaliser gave the Lone Star the needed morale-boost to mount an impressive comeback against Senegal in July, should retain his role in the XI, teaming up with Joachim Adukor and Dorley at the centre of the park.
In the final third, 30-year-old Kpah Sherman, who is closing in on his 20th senior cap, should spearhead the attack once again, alongside Abu Kamara, who turns out for Malaysian outfit Kuching City.
Egypt possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Gaber, Hegazy, Mohamed Hamdi, Mahmoud Hamdi; Ashour, Marmoush, Trezeguet; Salah, Marmoush, M Mohamed
Liberia possible starting lineup:
Wynney; Dweh, Balde, Jamal, Alajarin; Soumaoro, Dorley, Kromah, Adukor; Sherman, Kamara
We say: Egypt 3-0 Liberia
Buoyed by their comfortable victory over Niger, Egypt will head into Tuesday full of confidence as they look to wrap up their September friendlies in style. Given the gulf in quality and experience between the two sides and considering the Pharaoh's superb home form, we are backing Vitoria's men to ease to another victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
