The highlight of the third round of the Tunisia Ligue 1 playoffs will be a Ramadan Night Tunis Derby between Esperance Tunis and Club Africain. Taraji will go into the match in great form while Clubiste will be looking to position themselves as the other league title contender. The match is on Saturday 16th March, 2024 from 0830hrs GMT.
YOU CAN CHECK OUT OUR PREVIEW OF THE TUNISIA LIGUE 1 PLAYOFFS IF YOU MISSED IT
Esperance Tunis Probable XI: Memmiche; Bouchniba, Meriah, Tougai, Ben Hamida; El Ayeb, Aholou, Teka; Sasse, Rodrigues, Bouguerra (4-3-3).
Club Africain Probable XI: Hassen; Labidi, Cherifi, Zaalouni; Labidi, Khalil, Ben Yahia, Bikoro; Srarfi, Eduwo, Arfaoui (3-4-3).
What is at Stake?
This is a derby just like the many that you have around in Africa in places like Cairo, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Joburg…and Pretoria? Haha. Anyway, the point is that these are all encounters where institutional pride is at stake and not just the three points or trophy on offer. Can we also stop ranking derbies? Every rivalry is special to its specific set of fans.
Esperance has started the playoffs strongly and a win here will all but guarantee that they run away with the league title. Club Africain looks to be the team that is the second best in shape in Tunisia – this doesn’t mean much though as the Ligue 1 big six is in terrible shape. They absolutely need to win for Tunisia to have a title race otherwise they’ll settle for a CAFCL spot contest.
READ: EARLY PREDICTION OF CAFCL QUARTERFINALS
Club Africain are short of depth on the bench. But on its day, their starting XI can compete with anyone in Africa. There was a time when a few deluded football fans and I were clamouring for Bassem Srarfi to start in the AFCON for Tunisia. He will be CA’s main attacking threat in this match. Kingsley Eduwo, Arfaoui and, ex Taraji man, Meziani will also be looking to have an impact on the day. Their recent record against their rivals is also promising as they won and drew the two Tunis Derbies from last season.
Esperance Tunis has every reason to feel that last season won’t repeat itself. The team has won its last four matches without conceding a goal. Yann Sasse and Ricardo Rodrigues are looking good upfront. The 4-3-3 with El Ayeb is looking good too as is the young goalkeeper, Memmiche, who just earned a national team call-up. There is also healthy competition on the left wing with Bouguerra (my favorite), Bukia and Ghacha all raising their hands to start. If there’s weakness in this Taraji team it’s that their center-back pairing of Tougai and Meriah is susceptible to pace although they are experienced match readers.
Prediction
Esperance 1-0 Club Africain
This match should not veer off too far from the template we’ve seen in the Tunisia Ligue 1 playoffs so far. There will be few big chances created and a lot of the attacking play will rely on individual quality. Oh and also very few goals barring a major defensive collapse by either or both teams. Esperance will not only have better quality in their starting XI but also have better options off the bench. This should earn them a Tunis Derby win.
CAF Observer 