Senegal v Mali

[Mr Intensity]

Hi, I'm not really up on African footie but do you think that 3.40 on MALI is good value? Haven't been impressed with Senegal at all and Mali have Kanoute who is kicking ass. Sorry for this uninformative post, but hopefully it will spark some discussion from my more knowledgeable peers :lol .

[Tulenos]

Re: Senegal v Mali You can read my thoughts below, Mr Intensity. Anyway, I guess the danger of a draw is so high that even is you fancy it, the 1.70 for Mali to qualify should be the call. I backed the draw in today's game (Guinea) and won, but still even I can't read the game or whatever, but this all looked like Tunisia wanted to go on and score the second - in the end the "wished-for" draw came in. I'm afraid nobody can read into African alliances and trains of thoughts (like Senegal are out of sorts this year, let them win), so playing it safe should be the call -- well, on the other hand I am effectively on Mali to win or draw @ 2.40 taken a few days ago (see a tread below), but I'm NOT hedging it - says all.:)

[Guest easypunter]

mali to draw I believe Mali will get at least a draw here cos senegal will qualify and mali top the table. senegal defintely wont try too hard to win as they may expose their defence. If mali win them and Faso win big against kenya they will be out. mali +1/2 on asian handicap and a small stake on draw.

[Guest easypunter]

senegal - mali preview Senegal Team News No team news available. Mali Team News No team news available. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team Play Win Draw Lost For Against Points Mali 2 2 0 0 6 2 6 Senegal 2 1 1 0 3 1 4 B'kina F 2 0 1 1 1 3 1 Kenya 2 0 0 2 1 6 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mali has already qualified and only need to draw with Senegal to top the table. Senegal also need 1 point to qualify. They will need to win Mali if they want to top the table. B'kina F will need to win kenya by a big margin and hope Senegal lost to qualify. Mali and Senegal will be happy with a draw as that will ensure Mali top the table and Senegal qualified. Both teams will not want to attack and I think it will be more of a friendly match. Senegal may need to win to top the table but that will expose them to the risk of counter attack by Mali. If they lost to Mali, B'kina F will qualify by winning Kenya by a big margin which is possible. While draw has the highest possibility, I will also side Mali more. Both teams have quality European based players but Mali is in better form. They had won both games by 3-1 against Kenya and B'kina F, with Frederic Kanoute on form and scoring 3 goals. Mali also has midfielder Lamine Sissoko (Valencia), Mahamadou Diarra (Lyon) and Soumaila Coulibaly (Freiburg, Germany) who are playing well and they are all expected to start. Senegal draw with B'kina F 1-1 in their first game but managed to beat Kenya 3-0 in their second game. African Player of the Year forward El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool) is not showing sign of the form he had in World Cup 2002. He had not scored for both club and country in 27 games. However forward Mamadou Niang (Racing Strasbourg, France)and defender Pape Malick Diop (Lorient, France) had done the job of scoring. Senegal is giving asian handicap of -1/2 which I think is too high. Senegal need not win to qualify and Mali just need a draw to top the table. The second team will play host Tunisia which I think Mali will not want to face now. Senegal will also not risk themselves by attacking too much. I will back Mali +1/2 with high confidence. They had quality players in Frederic Kanoute and Lamine Sissoko in the forward line which Senegal defence need to take care of. Senegal El Hadji Diouf is not on scoring form and Mamadou Niang quality is not in the league of Kanoute and Sissoko. Mali defence should be able to handle them.