Eswatini vs Botswana Prediction: A spectacular opener expected

At King Zwelithini Stadium, Eswatini and Botswana will compete in the opening match of the 2023 COSAFA Cup, which is the 22nd iteration of the annual association football championship administered by COSAFA. There will be confidence inside the camps of both teams going into this match, as both will be anticipating a successful beginning to the tournament they are participating in. Despite this, what do you think the outcome will be?

Eswatini are well aware that they need to improve before entering this competition because their previous showings indicate that they would not advance to the knockout stages of this competition if their poor play continues. Eswatini have not been victorious in any of their most recent matches leading up to this competition, losing five of their most recent contests. In total, Eswatini has not won a single one of their most recent eight matches. In fact, the last time this country picked up a victory was in August 2022, when they played against Lesotho. Togo defeated this team in their most recent match, which took place at their home stadium and ended with a score of 0-2. Ahoueke Steeve, Kevin Denkey, and Meme Placca were the ones who scored goals for their rival in that encounter. The fact that Eswatini have dropped their last two matches in a row leading up to this one suggests that they need to improve their performance.

Botswana have won only one of their last five matches, and their most recent contest was the only one in which they were victorious. In the game that Botswana played against Libya, they performed well to maintain the advantage that Gape Mohutsewa had given them in the first half by converting a pass from Kabelo Seakanyeong. In their most recent five matches across all competitions, the away team did not keep a clean sheet, allowed seven goals to be scored against them, and only scored three goals themselves.

These countries won't be meeting for the first time because they have already contested eight matches before. The very first time these two teams met was in 2009, when Botswana emerged victorious in a friendly international match by a score of 1-0. Botswana has not lost any of their five matches at home against South Africa in either the COSAFA Cup or the African Nation Championship.

Both teams are anticipated to perform at their highest levels throughout the competition, which should result in a close match that will be determined by the smallest possible margin. In spite of this, I have no doubt that Botswana will emerge victorious in this match since, in comparison to Eswantini, they have brought a more talented team to this competition. Betting on the over is another option that should be examined, given that it is anticipated that both teams will display a number of impressive offensive plays.