Preview: Malawi vs. Namibia - prediction, team news, lineups

High-flying Namibia go toe-to-toe against Malawi on Tuesday looking to maintain their 100% start to this year's COSAFA Cup.

Meanwhile, Malawi will aspire to jumpstart their campaign by recording their first victory of the competition at the third time of asking.

Match preview

Picking up from where they left off, Namibia continue to surpass expectations following another impressive 2-0 triumph over Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Elmo Kambindu netted with four minutes left on the clock to put the result beyond doubt after Qadr Amin inadvertently put the ball past his own goalkeeper to give Ricardo Mannetti's men the lead.

With maximum points from their two games so far, the Brave Warriors remain in the box seat in Group A, two point ahead of their nearest challengers Mozambique having played one game less.

One more win all but guarantees Namibia a place in the knockout stages, but they would need to get the better of Malawi, which is something they have not done in four previous meetings.

The most recent of those matches was in the 2019 edition of the COSAFA Cup, where Malawi claimed a group-stage 2-1 win en route to a quarter-final exit.

After a 2-2 draw against Zimbabwe to set the ball rolling, Malawi fell to a 2-0 loss in their clash against Mozambique on Sunday.

Bob Mpinganjira's men were level heading into the interval before second-half goals from Vitinho and Francisco Simbine put the game beyond their reach.

The Flames are one of two Group B sides yet to pick up a win and are bottom of the group as things stand, albeit with a game in hand.

Alongside Zimbabwe - the other Group B team yet to record a victory - Malawi have conceded more goals than any other outfit, with the exception of Lesotho.

Team News

Elmo Kambindu has emerged as a potential candidate for the Golden Boot award after finding the back of the net in each of his side's first two games.

His supporting cast of Willy Stephanus, Marcel Papama and Absalom Limbondi is expected to be unchanged for a third successive game.

Malawi's Muhammad Sulumba was dropped for the Mozambique clash but could be reinstated into the starting lineup for this one.

This would see Rafick Namwera return to the bench following an unconvincing performance in the aforementioned game, where he was substituted midway through the second half.

Malawi possible starting lineup:
Kakhobwe; Sanudi, Nyasulu, Kawonga, Mwale; Idana, Mkwate, Selemani; Muyaba, Harrison, Davie

Namibia possible starting lineup:
Kazapua; Petrus, Gebhardt, Haoseb, Kamberipa; Handura, Katjiteo, Papama; Limbondi, Kambindu, Stephanus

We say: Malawi 1-2 Namibia

Namibia come into the game as the more in-form side given their recent run of results, while Malawi have been far from convincing in their last two encounters. We are backing Malawi to take a giant step towards qualification into the next round by coming out on top in this one.