Opta ranks Nigeria as sixth favourites to win AFCON; predicts Lookman will start; Iwobi, Osimhen praised 

British sports analytics company, Opta Sports has revealed its predictions regarding the most prominent countries to win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations using a supercomputer.

The Africa Cup of Nations com will be held in Côte d'Ivoire, from January 13 to February 11, with Nigeria drawn in Group A alongside the hosts, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. 

According to what was published by Opta, the Super Eagles are ranked as sixth favourites by the supercomputer after previously winning the AFCON in 1980, 1994 and 2013.

Defending champions Senegal ranked first among the candidates to win the Africa Cup of Nations with a percentage of 12.8%, followed by Ivory Coast with 12.1%, then Morocco with 11.1% and Algeria with 9.7%, while Egypt and Nigeria are in fifth and sixth place respectively.

The Super Eagles have an 8.1 percent chance of winning the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in eleven years.

Among the Nigerian players highlighted by Opta were Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Alex Iwobi. 

On Osimhen, Opta wrote: "Napoli talisman Osimhen was the leading scorer in qualification, with his 10 goals at least twice as many as any other player (four players had five).

"Since the last AFCON ended on February 6, 2022, just four players have scored more goals in the big five European leagues than Osimhen’s 42 – Mbappé (65), Kane (63), Haaland (56) and Martínez (47)."

Opta reckon that Atalanta striker Lookman should get the nod to start on the left wing over Ahmed Musa and Moses Simon, and highlighted the quality possessed by Alex Iwobi. 

"Still, the Super Eagles have plenty of dynamism behind that duo, with only nine Premier League players bettering Alex Iwobi’s tally of 13 shot-ending carries for Fulham in 2023-24. 

"Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman should start off the left, and he ranks second in Serie A for open-play goals per 90 this campaign (0.56), behind only Martínez (0.94)."

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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