Online betting forum predicts Malawi will not score against Angola in this evening’s last COSAFA Cup 2025 group match

* Gives odds at 1.53 taking cognizance that Malawi have failed to score in 7 of their last 8 matches while Angola have kept a clean sheet in 5 of their last 6 away matches

* Malawi’s defense is solid, but their lack of scoring could be a disadvantage against an Angola side in excellent form

* However, assistant coach Peter Mponda strongly believes that the Flames are going to give fans the required result

By Duncan Mlanjira

An online betting platform, Scores24 has given 1.53 odds that Malawi will not score against Angola in this evening’s last COSAFA Cup 2025 group match kicking off at 18h00.

Scores24 takes cognizance that the Flames have failed to score in 7 of their last 8 matches while Angola have kept a clean sheet in 5 of their last 6 away matches.

“Malawi’s defense is solid, but their lack of scoring could be a disadvantage against an Angola side in excellent form,” says Scores24 of the Parancas Negras’ who beat Lesotho 4-0 in their second Group B match on Sunday after drawing 1-1 with Namibia in the first last Thursday.

Malawi lost 0-1 to Lesotho in the first match and drew 0-0 on Sunday against Namibia ahead of this must-win last encounter in which a win would bring the Flames  level on points with Angola.

However, Scores24 takes note that “despite Malawi’s position at the bottom of the group, they shouldn’t be underestimated” — adding that “the key factor will be each team’s ability to capitalise on their chances in front of goal”.

“Considering current trends and both teams’ performance statistics, betting on over 1.5 goals seems like the most reasonable choice — it takes into account Malawi’s weak attacking output and the offensive dominance of the reigning champions,” says Scores24.

Meanwhile, Flames assistant coach Peter Mponda strongly believes that the players are going to give fans the required result, despite their failure to win their first two matches, he has been impressed with the team’s progress, noting improvements in performance between the Lesotho and Namibia games.

“We are happy with the way the team is progressing,” Mponda is quoted as saying by FAM Media. “The way we played against Lesotho, yes, we said we played well, but we didn’t create chances, and football is only judged by results.

“After the game [against Lesotho], we analysed that we didn’t have enough numbers in the box. Against Namibia, we had the numbers in the box, we created chances — unfortunately, we didn’t take some of them.

“We are looking forward to taking our chances in this game [against Angola],” said Mponda adding that going into this evening’s do-or-die game, the team will maintain the same hunger for goals.

“We will still need that hunger for goal, the fighting spirit which we showed against Namibia. It was a very good performance, but I want to emphasise that football is only judged by results — therefore, we need to score goals.

Malawi must win against Angola, while the match between Lesotho and Namibia must end in a draw for the Flames to keep their qualification hopes alive.

Kicking off at 18h00 and to be broadcast live on SuperSport and on FIFA+, there is a man loose in the Palancas Negras squad — striker Depu, who netted the tournament’s first hat-trick when they beat Lesotho 4-0 on Sunday, making him joint top of the all-time scorers list in the COSAFA Cup.

Depu has come in this edition having won the Golden Boot from the five goals he scored when Angola lifted the trophy in the 2024 edition and with four goals this term, he matches the all-time COSAFA Cup record holder, Felix Badenhorst of eSwatini at nine goals.

He is the main man to watch, who definitely will disturb Malawi’s attacking plans the coaching panel has in store for the players.

Meanwhile, Madagascar and eSwatini played to a 1-1 draw in their Group C clash yesterday, while Comoros and Botswana could not be separated at 0-0 in Group D.

The results have eliminated east African guest nation Tanzania and record seven-time COSAFA Cup champions, Zambia from contention for the semi-finals.

After the Malagasy defeated Tanzania in their opener, the point gained against eSwatini means the Taifa Stars can’t overhaul them at the top of the table — but eSwatini will be able to do so when they face Tanzania tomorrow.

Having no point, Zambia’s last match is against Botswana while in Group A, Mozambique need a win against Zimbabwe to be assured of top spot as all four teams remain in contention for a semifinal place.

The Mambas head the pool with four points, followed by South Africa (3), Mauritius (2) and Zimbabwe (1) — and here are various scenarios that could even see Zimbabwe into the next stage, if they get a win against Mozambique, and South Africa and Mauritius draw in this afternoon’s matches kicking off 15h00 CAT.—Additional content by COSAFA Media