Must-win clash for ESAE, Zanaco

by Helder Ribiero

Saturday Dec 28, 2019. 10:00

ESAE and Zanaco will meet for a must-win clash in Group B of the CAF Confederation Cup at Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto-Novo on Sunday 29 December 2019, kick-off at 15h00 CAT.

The Benin hosts will be desperate to register their first points of the group phase, having suffered back-to-back losses thus far. Ecole first went down 3-0 away to Morocco’s RS Berkane before succumbing 2-0 at home to DR Congo side DC Motema Pembe, leaving them in dire need of a positive result to keep their hopes of advancing alive.

ESAE were last in action in the middle of December, suffering a third successive loss across all competitions when they went down 1-0 at the hands of ASPAC in Benin’s Ligue 1.

Zanaco’s two Group B outings to date have both ended in draws. The Zambian side first held Motema Pembe 1-1 in Kinshasa, before a draw of the same score against Berkane in Lusaka. This leaves them in third place on the log on two points.

The Bankers have struggled to find peak of late, with their last six matches across all competitions failing to produce any wins. Their last outing was on December 21, a 1-1 draw away to Mufulira Wanderers in the Zambian Super League.

In head-to-head stats, this will be the first meeting of ESAE and Zanaco, with the teams set to cross swords again in Lusaka two weeks later. The other Group B match will be played later on Sunday evening in Morocco, with Berkane hosting Motema Pembe. Andofetra Rakotojaona of Madagascar will be in charge of the game in Porto-Novo.