The CAFCL Semifinals are set, and four clubs remain battling for the right to hoist the trophy! Which club will win the 2023 CAFCL Title?
Well, that’s where I come in to save the day, and as usual, I give out my predictions for this event as I have for quite a few years now. I already posted my QF preview on my blog site but I guess I should have just posted it here instead. It’s RIGHT HERE if you want to click on that and read what I said when they reached the quarterfinals, but here we are now and there are four clubs left in the fight!
May 12 ~ Esperance vs Al Ahly
May 19 ~ Al Ahly vs Esperance
May 13 ~ Wydad vs Mamelodi
May 20 ~ Mamelodi vs Wydad
So, I assume you recognize at least one of the clubs remaining as Esperance has once again reached the Final Four of the 2022-23 event. I can also only assume you remember when I called for the Tunisian giants to win the 2018 and 2019 versions of the CAFCL, and they did just that!
Unfortunately, I don’t think I can muster up the ability to ride Esperance this campaign, and I honestly don’t even think they will land in the final either. Al Ahly has their shit together and Esperance is struggling with consistency at the wrong time.
Esperance has dropped their last two Ligue 1 Championship matches and they are in jeopardy of even being here for the 2023-24 CAFCL tournament. That makes it difficult to navigate knowing that this title is only a few wins away but if they keep struggling in domestic football they might not even be participating here next time around.
Meanwhile, Al Ahly is cruising finding result after result in both CAFCL and in their domestic campaign and they just earned another piece of hardware this past Friday. Ah Ahly took down Pyramids to hoist the Egyptian Super Cup Final on Friday, and now they have a chance to earn a second piece of hardware should they go on to win this year’s CAFCL title.
Al Ahly is the most decorated club with 10 CAFCL titles to their credit, and they might just have to go through the defending Champions Wydad Casablanca to win this year’s trophy. I believe that the Finals in June, which will now be a two-legged effort, will feature Al Ahly vs Wydad, and you can play the lines accordingly.
I have no Futures Betting options to find from any of the sportsbooks that I currently use, so I can’t make a bet on who will win the trophy this year, but I believe that Al Ahly will once again return to the finals as they have so often lately.
Let’s keep in mind that Al Ahly has played in four of the last five finals, having won a pair of CAFCL trophies while settling for runners-up twice (2020 & 2021 Winners).
That is remarkable and I think they will have enough juice left in the tank to get past Esperance and then go on to beat Wydad for the right to hoist the CAFCL Trophy!
I was going to go over everything that has happened to this point of the tournament, but that’s easy enough to go find if you want to know how both clubs have gotten here. Let’s talk some lines though because I see some sites are starting to put up the odds for the front legs of the CAFCL Semifinals.
Esperance are slight favorites to win their home leg of the CAFCL Semifinals, but the 3-Way 1×2 Lines reveal some concerns for the Tunisian side. At 2.42, Esperance would have to win outright to cash that ticket and I believe it will be a low-scoring draw. It will either be 0 – 0 or 1 – 1, and the odds on the Draw come in at a sweet +205! Al Ahly to win outright on the 3-Way features odds of +230, although the handicap +0.5 line isn’t exactly full of value either. I would love to snag that +0.5 but there is simply too much juice attached to that action and anyone who knows me knows that Ej doesn’t play with juice.
So, for the front leg at Rades, play the draw and get PAID!
The front leg of the Wydad / Mamelodi match will be just as interesting because the last time they met was in the 2019-20 campaign in the group stage. Mamelodi won the top spot in their group as they both advanced, but Al Ahly took them both down in the QF and SF to go on to win the 2020 title.
Mamelodi has only lost one match in all competitions since October of 2022, a span of 31 matches with wins up and down the ledger. Wydad has only suffered one defeat over their last 17 outings, and that will make this bout worth watching. Both Teams to Score odds for the front leg in Morocco are listed at +105 if you point to yes… POINT TO YES!
They will each find one goal and then that second leg is going to be outrageously full of goal-scoring so do it again for the return leg or play that Over like you mean it!
Mamelodi might just pull off this upset even though they are being given no chance to give Wydad a match, according to the line setters. At +300 on the 3-Way line to win outright, Mamelodi is a big underdog but that has never stopped me from making bets. At least play the BTTS in the first match and think about doing it again or plowing the total for the second match with these two clubs.
Good luck with your wagering and again I believe that Al Ahly will be your 2022-23 CAFCL Winners!
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