Senegal out to confirm AFCON berth

Cheikhou Kouyate of Senegal and Andre Ayew of Ghana

Wednesday Jun 01, 2016. 16:00

Senegal will be confident of securing a place at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament when they face Burundi in their penultimate Group K qualifier on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off at the Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium in Bujumbura is set for 15h00 CAT.

The Teranga Lions currently top the pool with a maximum 12 points from four matches and only a defeat by two goals or more in this match will see them pushed to the final qualification match to confirm their place in the tournament in Gabon next year.

Coach Aliou Cisse has selected a powerful squad for the match, including the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate, Sadio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly and Moahmed Diame, and they have already shown their potency with a 2-0 away win over Rwanda in a friendly on May 28.

The Teranga Lions will be confident of securing at least a draw against the Swallows, having beaten them 3-1 in Dakar in the teams’ first group meeting just under a year ago.

Burundi are placed second in the pool on six points and are the only team capable of matching Senegal’s points haul – and then possibly ousting them from first place on head-to-head results. The Swallows have had mixed results at home in the qualifiers, defeating 2-0 before going down 3-1 at the hands of Namibia.

Seychelles referee Bernard Camille will take charge of the match in Bujumbura.