South Africa and Botswana kick off their COSAFA Cup campaigns on Tuesday, as they square off in the opening group game.
Both nations failed to qualify for the upcoming African Cup of Nations, and will look to make amends with positive runs in this tournament.
Match preview
Despite bringing through an exciting generation of talent, South Africa failed to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations as they finished third in their qualifying group.
They looked set to finish in the top two of the group having picked up nine points from their first four games, but a draw with Ghana meant they took on Sudan in the last round of fixtures with a place in the tournament on the line.
Goals from Saifeldin Malik Bakhit Maki and Mohamed Abdel Raman Yousif saw Sudan pick up a 2-0 win and leapfrog Bafana Bafana, seeing South Africa miss out on the African Cup of Nations.
That disappointment led to Molefi Ntseki's dismissal, with former Belgian defender Hugo Broos taking charge in May.
In his first game in the hot seat, Broos saw his team defeat Uganda 3-2 in a friendly in June, as they came back from a goal down to take a 3-1 lead through an Evidence Makgopa brace and a Bongokuhle Hlongwane goal, before Lumala Abdu pulled a goal back for the visitors in the dying minutes.
Coming into this tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, Broos's men will look to start their campaign with a convincing victory to build confidence for the remainder of the group stage.
They take on a Botswana side who will also look to bounce back from the disappointment of falling short in qualifying for the African Cup of Nations.
Their wait to feature in a major tournament continued, having failed to qualify since their debut appearance in the continental competition in 2012, when the Zebras crashed out after losing all three games.
Botswana finished at the foot of their qualifying group with just four points from their six matches, having only defeated Zambia as Moshe Gaolaolwe netted the only goal of the game in the sixth minute.
They are yet to return to action since that disappointing qualifying campaign, with their last game coming in March when they were thrashed 5-0 by a strong Algeria outfit.
Adel Amrouche's men will look to put that behind them and kickstart a strong COSAFA Cup campaign with what would be an impressive victory on Tuesday.
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Team News
Bongokuhle Hlongwane should lead the Bafana Bafana line, having hit his first international goal in his second cap in the friendly win over Uganda.
Although three Kaizer Chiefs players were named in the initial squad, they will be unavailable for this clash after the South African giants defeated Wydad AC 1-0 on aggregate to reach the CAF Champions League final, meaning goalkeeper Bruce Bvuma, defender Siyabonga Ngezana and midfielder Happy Mashiane remain with their club.
That should see Golden Arrows stopper Sifiso Mlungwana start between the sticks, while Denwin Farmer and Rushine De Reuck are expected to play at the heart of the defence.
Botswana defender Thatayaone Ditlhokwe currently plies his trade in South Africa for Supersport United, and he could line up against some of his domestic teammates on Tuesday.
In the absence of experienced goalkeeper Kabelo Dambe, Ezekiel Morake should start between the sticks, while Onkabetse Makgantai will likely lead the line.
South Africa possible starting lineup:
Mlungwana; Mphahlele, De Reuck, Farmer, Phillips; Mkhulise, Brooks, Sithebe, Pule; Mabasa, Hlongwane
Botswana possible starting lineup:
Morake; Ditlhokwe, Gaolaolwe, Kebue, Johnson; Setsile, Mpolokang, Cooper, Orebonye; Kgomo, Malgas
We say: South Africa 2-0 Botswana
After narrowly missing out of the African Cup of Nations, Broos's men will be desperate to bounce back with a strong cup campaign, starting on Tuesday.
They will aim for a win to set the pace for the competition, and should have enough to outclass Botswana should they click well together.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a South Africa win with a probability of 57.74%. A draw had a probability of 27.6% and a win for Botswana had a probability of 14.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a South Africa win was 1-0 with a probability of 19.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (13.87%) and 2-1 (7.67%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (14.25%), while for a Botswana win it was 0-1 (7.88%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 19.9% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for South Africa in this match.
