AS Port vs Zamalek Prediction, Betting Tips & Booking Code (Sep 4)

AS Port host Zamalek at Cairo International Stadium on September 4 — a home tie in name only, after both clubs agreed to stage the entire preliminary round in Egypt.

AS Port Change Coach Days Before the Tie and Hand Over Home Advantage

AS Port arrive as champions of Djibouti for a fifth time, and a first since 2019. They are also the country's most decorated cup side with seven Djibouti Cups, the most recent in 2024.

Then they gave up their biggest advantage. Rather than host at their own ground in Djibouti City, which holds 20,000, AS Port agreed to play both legs in Egypt — handing Zamalek a 75,000-seat stadium they have used as home for years.

The dugout is just as unsettled. Laurent Djam signed a one-year deal only days before the first leg, arriving from Cameroonian club Unisport du Haut Nkam, and goes straight into a Champions League tie with no time to learn his squad, which is already in Cairo.

Zamalek Return to Africa's Top Table With a Squad They Cannot Add To

Zamalek are back after a three-year absence, their last Champions League campaign ending in the 2022/23 group stage, and they arrive as Egyptian champions with a 15th title won on 56 points, two clear of Pyramids. Motamed Gamal, promoted from caretaker in January, was retained for the new season with full technical control.

The defence is the story. Zamalek conceded five goals in fourteen Confederation Cup ties last season on the way to the final, and have given up one goal in three league matches since the new campaign began. Oday Dabbagh, 13 goals in all competitions last term, leads the line again.

Two complications. Mohamed El Sayed turned his ankle in the 2-1 win over Petrojet and has been put on a rehabilitation programme. And a run of FIFA registration bans over unpaid dues had reached seventeen cases by June, so any gap has to be filled from within. Hossam Ashraf, who scored against Petrojet, is expected to start alongside Dabbagh.

Zamalek predicted lineup vs AS Port (4-3-3): Mahdi Soliman; Omar Gaber, Mohamed Ismail, Mahmoud Hamdi "El Wensh", Ahmed Fattouh; Ahmed Rabie, Mohamed Shehata, Adam Kaied; Chico Banza, Hossam Ashraf, Oday Dabbagh

AS Port vs Zamalek Prediction

  • Safe Tip: Both Teams To Score – No
  • Odds: 1.25 (22Bet)
  • Correct score prediction: AS Port 0-3 Zamalek
  • 22Bet Booking Code: CAQ88

Key stats:

  • Zamalek conceded five goals in fourteen Confederation Cup matches last season
  • Zamalek have conceded once in three league matches this season
  • Zamalek kept a clean sheet in their 3-0 win over Al Ahly Bank on 26 August

Zamalek reached a continental final behind a back line that conceded five times in fourteen matches, and the new season has followed the same pattern: a goalless draw with Al-Ittihad Alexandria, a 3-0 win over Al Ahly Bank, then 2-1 against Petrojet.

The venue removes the one variable that usually protects an outsider: no long trip, no unfamiliar pitch, no hostile crowd. A side that changed coach this week must now find a goal against a defence that has conceded once all season. See our CAF Champions League guide on how these ties go.

AS Port vs Zamalek Prediction, Value Tip

  • Value Tip: Zamalek -2 Handicap
  • Odds: 1.78 (22Bet)
  • 22Bet Booking Code: JQQ88

At 1.125 to win, Zamalek are priced as certainties, yet a three-goal margin sits at 1.775. The market is underrating two things: the venue swap, and a Djiboutian side whose new coach has had days rather than weeks with the squad.

The comparison is Dekedaha. Zamalek's biggest win of last season was 6-0 away at the Somali side in continental competition — a Horn of Africa opponent of similar standing, achieved on the road rather than at home. With Dabbagh fronting an attack that produced 17 goals across that campaign, three clear goals against a side with no home advantage and no settled bench looks like the floor.

Verdict: Both Teams To Score – No (1.25) — AS Port 0-3 Zamalek