African champions Al Ahly will continue with their title defence with a home match against ES Setif in the first leg of their semi final in Cairo. The two sides had slim winning margins in the quarter finals and going by their results in this competition, we expect more of that here. Al Ahly are coming into this game from three straight draws and have managed just one win in their last five matches. They have scored more than a goal in only one of the five matches and failed to score completely in two of the five games. Four of their last five matches have produced under 2.5 goals and the same is the case in three of their last five Champions League matches. Al Ahly are unbeaten in four Champions League matches but they’ve managed more than a goal in just two of the last five.
ES Setif easily took on the giant killers’ tag after their elimination of Esperance in the last round. They head into this game with the better form between these two teams, having won three of their last four matches. The Algerian side is unbeaten in four matches ahead of this, with two clean sheets, but they’ve failed to score in two of their last five matches. Away from home, they have won three of the last five but they’ve also failed to score in two of the five, while four have ended in under 2.5 goals. Setif have scored more than a goal in just one of the last five away matches. In eight away matches in the Champions League, they haven’t managed more than a goal and each of the last four has produced under 2.5 goals.
Setif will hope to carry their giant killing instincts to Cairo for this game. They will be buoyed by the away win at Esperance in the last round, but they haven’t done so well on the attacking front, especially away from home in this competition. They face Al Ahly who also haven’t been great in attack in this competition. With this in mind we will back the game to produce under 2.5 goals.