The Olympic Stadium plays host to Cameroon and Congo on Monday as they raise the curtain on their respective 2023 African Nations Championship campaigns.

Awaiting the sides in an unusual three-team Group E of the competition is Niger Republic, who will not be in action in the opening round of matches.

Match preview

Cameroon had far too much class for the Secretary Birds of Sudan courtesy of a relatively routine 2-0 victory in Monday's warm-up encounter.

Alioum Saidou's men opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Roche Foning after which Arthur Ebong put the result beyond doubt 20 minutes from time.

Since a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in their World Cup opener, the Indomitable Lions are unbeaten in five consecutive outings either side of 2023.

Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who just about have the upper hand in this fixture, winning three and losing two of the previous nine clashes.

Off the back of their best-ever CHAN outing in 2020 when they managed a fourth-place finish, Cameroon make the journey to Algeria with a point to prove.

Congo concluded their series of friendly matches for the African Nations Championship with a 1-0 defeat against Senegal's Lions of Teranga on Monday.

The contest was decided in the fifth minute as Lamine Camara grabbed an all-important goal to sink Jean Ngoya Obackas's men in a tight affair.

Consequently, the Red Devils have now suffered defeat in three of their most recent six involvements and are in urgent need of a pick-me-up.

Having reached the quarter-finals in each of their last two CHAN appearances, Congo will back themselves to make another deep run into the latter stages.

Team News

Cameroon's Arthur Ebong recently opened his international account, and the 18-year-old will be looking to pick up where he left off last time out.

Jerome Ngom Mbekeli will expect to be handed a more prominent role here, having played just five minutes of his country's World Cup journey in Qatar.

Mignon Koto is one to keep an eye on here for Congo as he targets an impactful display in his first major national-team involvement of any sort.

Massa Mohikola is the most experienced of his current teammates, and the goalkeeper should feature between the sticks at the expense of Giscard Mavoungou.

Cameroon possible starting lineup:
Mbaynassem; Mbekeli, Abba, Malone, Tchami; Zemba, Batto, Sime; Kemajou, Djonkep, Foning

Congo possible starting lineup:
Mohikola; Malonga, Ondongo, Lessomo, Mbemba; Binguila, Obongo, Mbangou; Massoumou, Bassinga, Koto

We say: Cameroon 1-0 Congo

Cameroon and Congo have developed a knack for playing out low-scoring affairs, so we expect another one here. That said, we also fancy Cameroon to just about come away with three points in the end.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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