African Cup of Nations outright betting

Angola is poised for this year`s African Cup of Nations with hopes high for a good tournament. Europe`s top leagues will be poorer for the absence of stars such as Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto`o, but the African teams will look to gain important practise playing together in preparation for the World Cup later this year.

The host nation had their best ever performance in the last African Cup and will be hoping that their captain Manucho will regain the goalscoring form which paved the way for a move to Manchester United after the last tournament. They will feel that they have a good chance to progress from the group stage this year as well, with Mali, Algeria and Malawi standing in their way.

All eyes will be on the Ivory Coast, who are the favourites for the tournament, priced at 5/2 (bet £20 to make £50 profit). They will be led by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, who has been in the form of his life so far this season. He will be supported by the Toure brothers (Kolo and Yaya) as well as Arsenal`s Emmanuel Eboue and Sevilla`s Didier Zokora.

Cameroon, led by Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto`o, are second favourites at 11/2. Cameroon started the millennium brightly, winning the 2000 Olympics as well as the 2000 and 2002 Cup of Nations. However, they have faded since then and have not won a competition since. They have won the competition a total of four times. Cameroon will feel confident of topping their group, facing Gabon, Zambia and Tunisia.

Ghana are also at 11/2 and have also won the competition four times. Chelsea`s Michael Essien will be a key player for them, but could miss the Black Stars` first match as he finishes recovering from a hamstring injury picked up with Chelsea. Ghana have a tough group, with Ivory Coast their main rivals, but they will also face competition from Togo and Burkina Faso.

Next are Egypt, who have won the last two competitions, priced at 9/1. They will be looking  towards forward Mohammed Zidan, if they hope to make it three in a row, as they will be missing key players such as Amr Zaki and Mohammed Aboutrika. Nigeria are next in the betting after Egypt, at 10/1, and will hope to finish ahead of Egypt in Group C, with Mozambique and Benin unlikely to pose too much trouble.

Ivorian striker Didier Drogba is unsurprisingly the favourite to be top goalscorer, priced at 4/1. He is closely followed by Samuel Eto`o at 9/2, and then Malian Fredi Kanoute at 12/1. Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor is at 14/1, with Ghanaian Matthew Amoah at 16/1.

African Cup of Nations betting odds

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