What Zimbabwe need to know about Botswana

Zimbabwe and Botswana clash in a crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier set for Francis town tomorrow. While the reverse fixture ended in a goaless draw both sides are expected to search for a positive result as they go in the hunt for Afcon qualification.

Botswana

Shape – Botswana mainly line up in a 4-4-2 formation.

Build up play

In instances where they build from the back the two centre backs spread apart giving room for their defensive midfielder to come and collect the ball and start play as illustrated in the diagram below.

The two wings backs give options for either the centre back or defensive midfielder by going to the touch line as illustrated in the diagram below.

When facing superior opposition which effects a high press Botswana prefers to play long and by pass the middle third. The zebras mainly look to hit their centre forward Tumisang Orebonye who is tasked with the responsibility of holding up play and looking for runners that provide support from deeper areas. The centre striker cat times receives the ball in wide areas thus leaving the centre vacant for oncoming runners to occupy.

On other occasions Botswana go long into wide areas where they seek to find their wingers with Kabelo Seakanyeng a major target owing to his speed and skill.

Defending

In their current Afcon qualifying campaign the Zebras have heavily relied on defending with a low block so as to limit the space behind their back line when playing opponents that are superior to them. Below is an illustration of Botswana defending with a low block.

Pressing

When defending deep Botswana confront their opponents when they get to the centre line.

Key player:

Kabelo Seakanyeng who plies his trade for Olympique Khoubriga in Morocco has played all of Botswana’s games in the qualifiers and is a major threat for the Zebra’s particularly in wide areas. While Tumisang Orebonye is the Zebra’s target man, Kabelo Seakanyeng thrives on dropping deep and linking up play while making use of his pace down wide areas.  

What to expect:

Given that Botswana is playing at home in an encounter which will see fans expecting the Zebra’s to push for a positive result which would enhance their chances of qualifying for the Africa cup of Nations, Botswana should play a more open game and defend higher up the field as opposed to how they have approached previous encounters where a draw would have been favourable.

Given an expected change of mindset the warriors should have more space to attack. While the reverse fixture ended in a nil all stalemate this particular encounter should produce goals.

Prediction: Zimbabwe 2-1 Botswana