For anyone wanting to get involved in the ACN matches but like me doesn't have an in depth knowledge of African Football here are some basic points of reference to help form an opinion.

It may be a good idea to keep stakes to a minimum and it is worth remembering that anything can and does happen in these matches (as we have already seen). There should be many opportunities to trade out (or practice trading out) of both winning and adverse positions.

A good starting point should be the FIFA world rankings, these rankings and many other in depth features and stats are available here
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranki ... nking.html

Below is a table of the teams ranked in point order, this should highlight on a like basis the strength of the teams involved.
1 Cameroon 1035
2 Ivory Coast 934
3 Nigeria 848
4 Egypt 832
5 Algeria 823
6 Ghana 747
7 Mali 662
8 Gabon 660
9 Burkina Faso 650
10 Tunisia 614
11 Benin 532
12 Togo 467
13 Mozambique 462
14 Zambia 380
15 Angola 337
16 Malawi 326

Another couple of stats from the group matches of the last ACN worth mentioning are

Out of the 24 matches there were 7 draws (29.17%) but 4 of these came from Group D, the other groups only featured 1 draw each.

The average goals/game was 2.92

The number of under/over 2.5 goals in the group games was 13/13, exactly 50/50.

In general it may be worth considering laying the draw as a starting point, insurance on the 0-0 might be a waste as only three group games ended 0-0 in the 2008 ANC.

Looking at the above stat backing or laying 2.5 goals may be a lottery, the market was hugely in favour of U2.5 goals in the opening match of the 2010 ANC and it finished 4-4!.

A safer strategy if wanting to get involved in the goals markets may be to lay U1.5 goals after 20 mins or so as only 5 out of the 24 2008 group matches finished with 2 goals or less.

8 out of the 24 2008 Group matches (33%) finished with 4 or more goals being scored

I hope these stats are of use to anyone wanting to get involved in the 2010 ACN