Eswatini vs Togo Prediction: Home side performance will not be enough to avoid defeat

On Sunday afternoon, as part of the fifth round of qualifying for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations, Eswatini will be hosting Togo at the Mbombela Stadium. This weekend's matchup should prove to be quite an exciting competition due to the fact that both teams need to walk away with all three points in order to keep their hopes of making it to the continental tournament alive. 

On March 28, Eswatini was defeated by the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde by a score of 1-0, which has put them in a position where they are in danger of being eliminated from the AFCON qualifiers. The first goal of the game, scored by Ryan Mendes ten minutes into the second period, proved to be the decisive moment that defeated Dominic Kunene's team in a contest that was close throughout. After four matches, during which they only managed to pick up two points, Sihlangu Semnikati are now in third place in Group B, five points below the position that will ultimately qualify them for the next round. The hopes of Saturday's hosts for qualifying for the AFCON have pretty much been dashed, therefore, they will be looking for a confidence boost before the beginning of the COSAFA Cup the following month.

Togo neutralized the threat that Lesotho posed following a straightforward victory over Lesotho by a score of 2-0 in a friendly match that took place on Wednesday at Bidvest Stadium in Johannesburg. Yawo Agbagno scored the first goal for Paulo Duarte's team right away to break the scoreless tie. Shortly after that, Ahoueke Denkey added another goal to double their advantage halfway through the first half. As a result, Les Eperviers have won their first game in a row across all competitions for the first time in ten attempts, dating back to their victory over Sierra Leone in March 2022. After that comes the challenge of going up against an adversarial group where there is not much of a difference between the two teams. This is because each of the sides' most recent three battles has resulted in one victory for each side and a split of the spoils. The visitors' current run of five losses and two draws from their most recent seven road trips demonstrates how unimpressive their performance has been on the road.

Eswatini possible starting lineup:

Dlamini, Thwala, Mkhwanazi, Mamba, Mkhonta, Mamba, Matse, Ngwenya, Mkhontfo, Dlamini, Ndzinisa

Togo possible starting lineup:

Mensah, Bessile, Boateng, Tchakei, Asamoah, Hackman, Ouro-Agoro, Samsondin, Agbagono, Denkey, Henen

Both teams boast the same number of goals scored and conceded from their opening four matches, and this weekend's contest could easily swing either way. However, we just about back the away side to emerge victorious at the end of the 90 minutes. In the meantime, while both sides do not possess great offensive players, we do not think there will be many goals in this contest.