Preview: Esperance Tunis vs. Al Ahly - prediction, team news, lineups

With a spot in the final at stake, Esperance Tunis and Al Ahly face off in the first leg of their CAF Champions League semi-final at the Stade Hammadi Agrebi on Saturday.

The home side are looking to reach the final for the third time in four years, while the visitors are in search of a second consecutive final following season's triumph.

Match preview

Esperance Tunis booked their place in the last four by overcoming Algerian side CR Belouizdad on May 22 via penalties.

Second-half goals from Abdelraouf Benguit and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane helped Moin Chaabani's men overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.

Next up for the Taraji Dawla is a crunch tie against an Al-Ahly side who they have faced regularly in the last nine years.

There have been 10 meetings between the teams in that time, with the hosts winning just one of them, losing six and drawing three.

However, that solitary triumph came in the most recent encounter, which was the 2018 final where the Tunisian outfit claimed a 3-0 second-leg victory en route to winning the title.

Al Ahly saw off the threat of Mamelodi Sundowns to progress into the semi-final courtesy of a 3-1 triumph on aggregate.

Pitso Mosimane's men went into the second leg on May 22 with a 2-0 advantage from the first leg, meaning that a 1-1 draw on the day was enough to advance.

The Nadi El Qarn have since triumphed again on a continental scale after claiming the CAF Super Cup by defeating RS Berkane 2-0 on May 28.

No team in the history of the CAF Champions League has been gone all the way on more occasions than the Egyptian giants, who got the better of Zamalek to secure a 9th title back in November.

Prior to that, Esperance Tunis had won the tournament twice in a row, so Saturday's duel in Rades sees the winners of the last three editions of the competition go up against each other.

Team News

With four goals in eight matches, 21-year-old Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane is the current joint-top scorer in the tournament.

Khalil Chemmam has not featured for Esperance Tunis since he was hauled off with a muscle injury in the second leg of the quarter-final.

Mohamed Magdy Afsha has recovered from a hamstring problem which he sustained earlier in the month and is expected to play a part in the match.

Salah Mohsen comes into the match in great form, having scored three goals in his last four outings in all competitions.

Esperance Tunis possible starting lineup:
Ben Cherifia; Ben Hamida, Derbali, Bedrane, Nagguez; Coulibaly, Ben Romdhane, Chaalali; Badri, Abdul Khalid, Elhouni

Al Ahly possible starting lineup:
El-Shenawy; Ashraf, Ibrahim, Benoun, Ramadan; El Shahat, Al-Sulaya, Dieng; Afsha, Shreif, Mohsen

We say: Esperance Tunis 2-1 Al Ahly

The game promises to be an exciting affair as two capable teams go head-to-head. As the home side, the onus will be more on Esperance Tunis to go into the second leg with an advantage, and we are tipping them to do that.