Africa Cup of Nations: Gabon v Morocco Odds and Betting Preview

LIBREVILLE, GABON - Co-hosts Gabon got their Africa Cup of Nations campaign off to the perfect start when beating Niger 2-0 in Libreville on Monday evening, but face a tougher test against Morocco tonight. Gernot Rohr’s side can qualify for the quarter-finals if they win again tonight and assuming Niger fail to beat Tunisia in the earlier match.

Despite having the home advantage, Gabon are the outsiders in the match, and are priced up at 2/1 with William Hill and BetVictor to grab another three points in Group C. A draw is on offer at 11/5 with Betfred and Stan James, but the bookmakers prefer the chances of a Morocco win, which is an 8/5 shot with Coral.

Home advantage can be significant in the Africa Cup of Nations, and Gabon were one of the sides tipped up by pundits as a possible alternative to backing the short-priced favourites Ivory Coast. The Panthers are now sixth in the outright tournament betting, and can be backed at 16/1 with Stan James, having been on offer at 40/1 with Blue Square earlier this month. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stole the show for Gabon in their win over Niger, and the former AC Milan player will again be key for the co-hosts, as Daniel Cousin is expected to be on the bench again. Another win would have the 40,000-strong home support in raptures once more, but Morocco promise to be a hard nut to crack.

Morocco are amongst the favourites for the tournament, but Eric Gerets’ side slipped up in their opener against Tunisia. They have plenty of fire-power at their disposal to see off Gabon, but it is a worry for their backers that Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh was so sloppy in front of the goal against Tunisia. Adel Taarabt and Youssef El-Arabi both started on the bench last time, and it will be intriguing to see if Gerets makes any changes to starting XI tonight.

A 1-1 draw is deemed the most likely scoreline at 11/2 by the odds compilers at Coral and William Hill, but there has been a little bit of support for a 1-0 win for Morocco at 6/1 with bet365. 1-0 to Gabon is considered at 7/1 with totesport, whilst a 0-0 draw is a 15/2 chance with William Hill, even though that looks unlikely given the way Gabon are set to approach the game in front of their home fans. A 2-2 thriller is 18/1 with Irish bookie Boylesports and finally 2-1 to Morocco can be backed at 10/1 with Ladbrokes.

Despite firing a blank in the opener, Marouane Chamakh is still fancied to open his account for the tournament tonight and he is 13/2 with Coral to net the first goal of the game. Gabon’s Daniel Cousin is next in the first goalscorer betting at 7/1 with Ladbrokes, but punters should first check if he makes the starting XI. Hadji could start for Morocco, in which case the Ligue 1-based attacker could be worth a few quid at 7/1 with bet365, but the stand-out bet of the night has to be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score the first goal of the game at 17/2 with bet365. He will be buzzing with confidence after his performance against Niger, and he could also be worth a punt at 25/1 with the same firm to score two or more goals in the game.

Morocco are 7/2 with Paddy Power to lead at half-time and full-time, but bet365 have cut the outcome into 3/1. In other markets over 2.5 goals is 7/5 with Stan James and both teams to score can be backed at 11/10 with Ladbrokes.

The game kicks-off at 8.00pm local time in Libreville on Friday 27 January, which is 7.00pm in the UK. Punters can watch the action live on British Eurosport.

Gabon v Morocco Match Odds