Algeria vs S/Leone: Kickoff time, Venue, Team news, predictions - AFCON 2021 Match Preview

Algeria kicks off its title defence in the 2021 TotalEnergies AFCON against Sierra Leone in Group E on Tuesday.

But the question is, can the holders join an elite group of countries that have successfully defended the AFCON title?

Algeria's Les Fennces go into the game as clear favourites and are expected to see this through unscathed as they look to successfully defend their 2019 title in Cameroon.

While the Leone Stars are making a return to Africa's biggest football event after a 26-year absence, for their third appearance, Algeria is hoping to win their third-ever AFCON crown in what is its 19th appearance.

Algeria is in Cameroon for one thing alone, to "retain the title'', according to their 2019 winning manager, Djamel Belmadi.

But for his opposite number, John Keister, the target is clear, to defend the dignity of their country by putting up a good fight in a ''difficult group''.

Algeria and Sierra Leone couldn't be any further apart in terms of their form and head-to-head records.

Apart from the fact that Les Fennecs are the reigning champions, they are unbeaten in the last 34 international matches and this includes a 3-0 whitewash of the Black Stars during their only AFCON 2021 warm-up game.

The Desert Foxes are also the FIFA Arab Cup champions and have not lost a match since a 3-0 defeat to fellow North African, Morocco, three years ago.

For the Leone Stars, while they have been away for almost three decades, they will compete in a poor run of three defeats and two draws, and a win in their last five matches.

In the head-to-head, both nations are meeting for just the second time ever, with Algeria taking the previous encounter 2-0 when they both met in 1996, also in the AFCON group stages.

The Japoma Stadium in Douala will host this first match of the AFCON 2021 in Group and will kick off at 2 pm Nigerian time on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.

It's not good news for Sierra Leone that the Desert Foxes will welcome back some of their biggest stars from Europe, who were not a part of the triumphant side in the Arab Cup.

Both teams seem to have rather healthy and fully fit players to choose from for the tie tomorrow.

Algeria XI: Rais M’Bolhi; Youcef Atal, Aissa Mandi, Djamel Benlamri, Ramy Bensebaini; Ramiz Zerrouki, Ismail Bennacer, Sofiane Feghouli; Riyad Mahrez, Baghdad Bounedjah, Youcef Belaili.

Sierra Leone XI: Mohamed Kamara; Osman Kakay, Umaru Bangura, Steven Caulker, Yeami Dunia, Saidu Mansaray; John Bankole Kamara, Mohamed Kamara, Kwame Quee; Kei Kamara, Alhaji Kamara.

There is no need for long talks, the Leone Stars will be lucky to concede less than two goals in this fixture tomorrow.