{"id":2261,"date":"2019-06-20T13:16:23","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T12:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sierraleonefootball.com\/?page_id=2261"},"modified":"2019-06-20T13:16:29","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T12:16:29","slug":"african-cup-of-nations-2019-egypt","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sierraleonefootball.com\/african-cup-of-nations-2019-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"African Cup of Nations 2019 Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Africa Cup of Nations: What to look out for in this summer’s tournament <\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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Champions League winners among star attractions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC Sport<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Africa Cup of Nations gets under way on Friday, 21 June, when hosts Egypt face Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC Sport has a look at some of the things to keep an eye out for in the biggest ever, and first June-July Afcon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are plenty of star names on show in this summer’s Africa Cup of Nations. Liverpool’s Champions League winning forwards Mohamed Salah<\/strong> (Egypt) and Sadio Mane<\/strong> (Senegal) will be crucial to their countries’ hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That pair were joint top Premier League scorers this season along with another African – but Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Gabon did not qualify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Liverpool player, Naby Keita,<\/strong> is in Guinea’s squad, even though he is still recovering from a thigh injury.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algeria will be looking to Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez<\/strong> for inspiration, while Morocco forward Hakim Ziyech<\/strong> comes into the tournament on the back of a 21-goal, 24-assist season with Ajax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivory Coast’s Lille forward Nicolas Pepe<\/strong> has been linked to several of Europe’s top clubs after scoring 22 Ligue 1 goals. His international team-mate, Wilfried Zaha<\/strong> of Crystal Palace, is also courting interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Porto’s Moussa Marega<\/strong> was the joint-third top-scorer in this season’s Champions League with six – although he has only scored two goals in his Mali career so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senegal’s Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly<\/strong> is considered to be one of the best centre-backs in the world, while Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey<\/strong> is an Atletico Madrid regular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egypt, Senegal and Ghana are considered the three favourites to win the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n