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Sports Mole previews Saturday's COSAFA Cup clash between Eswatini and Zambia, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Zambia set out to bounce back from an opening defeat when they square up against Eswatini at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.

Similarly, Eswatini will aim to get back to winning ways after they were handed their loss of the tournament in their last outing.

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Match preview

Zambia suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss at the hands of Lesotho on Thursday to kick off their COSAFA Cup title defence.

Milutin Sredojevic's men went into the interval with a slender lead courtesy of Justin Shonga's strike, but a second-half brace from Sera Motebang turned the game on its head.

The Chipolopolo occupy fourth spot in Group A as things stand, ahead of bottom-placed Botswana only on more goals scored.

Next up for them is a chance to get off the mark against an Eswatini side in a game where they will be considered as favourites once again.

In three previous meetings, Zambia are yet to taste defeat, although they have only won on one occasion, which was a 1-0 triumph back in 2008.

Eswatini had nothing to show for their spirited display against host nation South Africa on Thursday as they ended up losing 1-0.

Thabang Sibanyoni's opener just before the hour mark was enough to put Dominic Kunene's men to the sword in a hard-fought contest.

However, the Sihlangu Semnikati are still in a decent position thanks to an opening day victory against Lesotho, as a result of which they remain second in Group A.

Having already managed more points than they did in the 2019 tournament, Eswatini now have their sights set on securing qualification into the next round.

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Team News

Estwani's Felix Badenhorst recently overtook Peter Ndlovu in the tournament's all-time scoring charts with his ninth goal in the victory over Lesotho on Tuesday.

However, he is suspended for Saturday's game after he was sent off on the stroke of half time for two bookable offences against South Africa.

Justin Shonga's opener against Lesotho was his seventh strike for his nation in what was just his 15th international appearance.

The 24-year-old forward will be relied upon once again by Zambia as they look to breathe life into their COSAFA Cup campaign.

Eswatini possible starting lineup:
Diamini; Magagula, Mamba, Mkhwanazi, Msibi; Mabelesa, Khethokuhle, Gamedze; Mamba, Figuareido, Ndzinisa

Zambia possible starting lineup:
Mweene; Kabwe, Chongo, Chama, Chepeshi; Kampamba, Phiri, Sakala, Mulenga; Shonga, Lungu

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We say: Eswatini 1-2 Zambia

The Chipolopolo did not get off to the best of starts but luckily for them, there is still ample time for recovery. We are tipping them to claim all three points in this one by the end of the 90 minutes.

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