Senegal vs Sudan: Match preview, head-to-head, team news, line-ups, prediction

Senegal will lock horns with Sudan in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations round-of-16 clash at the Tangier Grand Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Teranga Lions finished top of Group D with seven points, while Sudan finished third in Group E with three points.

Match preview

Senegal headed into the tournament as one of the favourites and produced a brilliant performance in the group stage.

Pape Thiaw’s side began their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Botswana but were held to a draw by DR Congo before beating Benin.

Senegal were brilliant offensively as they ranked first for big chances created and second for goals scored. They were also defensively astute, conceding just once, the joint-fewest so far.

Sudan, on the other hand, were less impressive, picking up just three points from a possible nine.

The Falcons of Jediane lost 3-0 to Algeria in their first match, but bounced back with a 1-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea, only to lose 2-0 to Burkina Faso in their last group game.

Unless there is a massive improvement at both ends, Sudan are likely to exit the tournament at this stage.

Head-to-head

Both sides have never met at AFCON but have faced each other six times previously, with Senegal winning four and two ending in a draw.

Team news

Senegal and Sudan have no injury concern, but the Teranga Lions will be without centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly due to suspension, following his red card against Benin.

Predicted line-ups

Senegal (4-2-3-1): Edouard Mendy, Krepin Diatta, Abdoulaye Seck, Moussa Niakhate, Ismail Jakobs, Pape Gueye, Idrissa Gueye, Sadio Mane, Iliman Ndiaye, Ismaila Sarr, Nicolas Jackson.

Sudan (4-4-1-1): Monged El Neel, Yaser Awad, Mohamed Ering, Mustafa Karshoum, Bakhit Khamis, Salah Adil, Abuaagla Abdalla, Ammar Taifour, Abo Eisa, Abdel Raouf, Mohamed Eisa.

Prediction

We expect Senegal to triumph 3-0.

Stats from transfermarkt.com & sofascore.com