Thursday 3rd February 2022

In Across the Leagues today:

• AFCON Semi Final…
• Cameroon v Egypt, 7pm…
• Three main men – including Toko Ekambi…

Tune in and cheer on our 50/1 shot tonight…

Any plans this evening? How about settling down in front of the TV to watch the African Cup of Nations semi final between Cameroon and Egypt…

You’ve got a couple of live options here, with the BBC showing the game online and on BBC Three. And Sky Sports continuing to broadcast every AFCON match, too. Kick-off is at 7pm.

The hosts Cameroon are the favourites to win tonight. Opponents Egypt have lifted this trophy more times than any other nation. Senegal await in the final.

On the betting front, if you’re on our Top Goalscorer pick Karl Toko Ekambi (50/1 Each Way), then that’s one very big reason to be cheering for Cameroon this evening…

As it stands, our man Toko Ekambi is on five goals, second in the top scorer chart behind his teammate Vincent Aboubakar, and well within the four Each Way places (1/4 the odds).

Sadio Mane scored again for Senegal last night. So going into today’s second semi, with the final and third-place playoff to follow, the table looks like this:

ACFON Top Scorers:

• Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) – 6 goals
• Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon) – 5 goals
• Sadio Mane (Senegal) – 3 goals
• Sofiane Boufal (Morocco) – 3 goals – Morocco knocked out
• Ibrahima Kone (Mali) – 3 goals – Mali knocked out
• Gabadinho Mhango (Malawi) – 3 goals – Malawi knocked out 

Eight players on 2 goals. Including:

• Mohamed Salah (Egypt)

Aside from having Toko Ekambi in the ante-post book for tournament Top Goalscorer, another route to profit has been to back our man in the matchday scorer markets. Which has been the case for Across the Leagues member Jimmy, who emailed this week:

If you’re looking at the Anytime and First Goalscorer bets tonight, then there are three men that stand out head and shoulders above the rest for Cameroon v Egypt…

For the hosts, Vincent Aboubakar and our man Karl Toko Ekambi. And for Egypt, superstar striker Mo Salah.

Anytime Scorer odds in the region of 2/1 each are available for those chaps. With Bet365 going an industry-best 3/1 for Toko Ekambi.

For First Goalscorer, Aboubakar is the 4/1 favourite in general. With Salah at 5/1, and Toko Ekambi again a top price with Bet365, at 7/1.

Worth knowing:

• Aboubakar and Salah are the chief penalty-takers for their respective sides

Enjoy the match…

I’ll be back tomorrow with a Weekend Preview, including a look at the FA Cup 4th Round.

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Across the Leagues