The Walia Ibex of Ethiopia are set to end the dominance of Egypt over them as they play host to their nemesis on Thursday in continuation of the African Cup of Nations qualifying series.
Ethiopia are third in Group D behind Malawi and Egypt after they fell 2-1 to Malawi in Blantyre on Sunday.
Ethiopia under Wubetu Abate have shown they are an improved and good side who can hold their own against any team following the way they played Malawi.
Both teams have met 14 times with Egypt winning on 12 occasions, while Ethiopia won twice.
The East Africans will want to have a back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations qualification by beating the Egypt who won silver in the last edition of the competition in Cameroon.
Egypt, on the other hand, will want to maintain their grip on the group with a win against Ethiopia after they beat Guinea 1-0 in Cairo.
The Pharaohs will miss a host of key players against Ethiopia, including Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who played through the pain barrier against Guinea due to a minor injury.
Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny, Aston Villa winger Mahmoud Trezeguet and Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy will also be unavailable.
Ethiopia coach Abatu says they were disappointed by the opening match loss, but he expects his charges to show character against Egypt and come out with a good result.
“The players, staff, and I are all frustrated by the result but we have to move on from the Malawi game because we have a difficult encounter against Egypt, and we have to prepare for it,” Abate said before the clash.
“We know that Mohamed Salah will not play the match, but we do not focus on a specific player. Egypt are still a good team with or without him.
“Therefore, we focus more on our team and talk about avoiding errors, playing the ball and scoring goals. We only focus on ourselves, not the opponent.”
On the other side, Egypt coach Ehab Galal says he is wary of the threat posed by Ethiopia but he is hopeful his injury stricken side will come out the match with maximum points.
“We are facing bad luck because of the injuries,” the former Pyramids FC coach said.
“The game against Ethiopia will be a strong one, not an easy one. We will do our best to return with the three points.”
Ethiopia have not met Egypt for almost two decades as their last meeting saw the Pharaohs win 4-1 in a friendly game in 2002.
