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AFCON 2023Q: Black Stars seek double over Angola today

By Vincent Ashitey
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The Black Stars will seek to complete double over  Angola when the two sides meet today, March 27 in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

In the second of two consecutive meetings between the teams four days apart, Angola welcome Ghana to the Estadio de 11 Novembro for their fourth AFCON qualifier.

READ ALSO: AFCON 2023Q: Nicholas Opoku joins Black Stars in Luanda for Angola clash

The hosts will be looking to exact revenge on their visitors following a narrow 1-0 defeat at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi last time out.

Antoine Semenyo was the hero of the occasion as he came off the bench to score a 96th-minute winner and hand Chris Hughton a winning start to life at the helm of affairs.

Picking up seven points from a possible nine, the Black Stars have opened up a three-point lead at the top of Group E midway through the qualifying campaign.

They will now aim to continue their near-perfect record against an opposing outfit who have been beaten in two of the previous three encounters between the sides.

Speaking ahead of today's 4:00 pm clash, Chris Hughton expects a difficult test in Luanda.

"I think again, a difficult game. Angola showed in big parts of the game the quality that they have got, their way of play. I don’t think there will be too many surprises in the way they play because they are a very technical and they like to play very expansive game. It’s about making sure that we on the day defend well, play as a unit and take our opportunities, perhaps a little bit better than what we did in the first game'"

Teams news:

The Amiens defender Nicholas opoku has been drafted in to provide options for Coach Chris Hughton following the absence of Salisu Mohammed and Alexander Djiku. The two defenders who have been key members of the Ghana squad in recent times were left out of the travelling party due to injuries.

Andre Ayew has also been ruled out of the tie.

 

Angola vs Ghana Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

  • There have been seven clashes between the two sides before, with Ghana winning four times and losing once.
  • Angola's only win over Ghana came in June 1997 in the AFCON qualifiers.
  • Ghana have kept a clean sheet in their last three meetings with Angola, winning their last two.
  • The visitors have won four of their last seven games.
  • Ghana have kept a clean sheet in their last two games. They haven't kept three in a row since the 2019 African Nations Championship.
  • The visitors' Andre Ayew needs one more goal to reach 25 goals, the fifth highest in the nation's goalscoring charts.
  • Having lost their last game, the hosts risk losing two in a row for the first time since September 2021 (2). The loss to Ghana was also their first in 13 games.