The second match at the Copa America on Monday evening sees Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates back in action when the South America powerhouses host a dogged Paraguay side in Group A out in Brasilia.
Argentina go into the match with four points from their first two matches so they are in a decent position. Paraguay have played a match less than their opponents here having had the previous set of games in this group off but they have three points to their name.
Argentina
The opening two Argentina matches have been largely disappointing affairs although that might just be down to my own expectations of this Argentina side. I get it has been a long season and it is tough to play behind closed doors but the lack of tempo and energy in the two performances has been disappointing. They will argue that they have still taken four points from the six on offer to them but it would be a surprise if what we’ve seen from them thus far would be enough to win this competition, which is surely their aim.
It might be that the reason for the low tempo and lack of energy in the press is to protect their defence which looks much the weakest part of their game, but this is a side with the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Angel di Maria and Lautaro Martinez in their ranks. You would like them to be a little more offense minded than they have been and if they are they should be good enough to overcome most challenges.
Paraguay
I highlighted Paraguay as ones to watch in this tournament when I wrote the outright preview for the competition and although they were a little fortunate to overcome Bolivia in their opening match, they showed why in the second period when they could have had any number of goals as opposed to the three they picked up. They will need much more of that second half performance here but given that Bolivia are yet to gain a point and have on paper the two hardest matches to come, Paraguay can play this one with a bit of freedom.
In the past Paraguay sides have been accused of either being too reliant on one man in attack – notably Roque Santa Cruz – or not carrying a goal threat but that accusation certainly can’t be levelled at this Paraguayan side. If anything they are not as structured defensively as they have been in the past so they are a lot more watchable, but vulnerable at the same time. Given that they have nothing to lose here we could see their attacking players shine.
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Team News
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni might well consider going in with the same side for this match as the one he utilised in the win over Uruguay in the last game and then rest players for what should be a simpler task against Bolivia.
Paraguay might also go in with an unchanged line up after they turned things around nicely against the Bolivians in that opening match. The energetic legs of Richard Sanchez provided Paraguay with a spark in that game though so he might have forced his way in from the beginning.
Betting
I’m not ruling Paraguay out of this match at all but the outright interest I have in them is more than enough for me so I’m going to take the prices on both teams to score in this match. I say that because if you have read my previews for this tournament from the outset you will know that I’m really not keen on this Argentina defence and while they have only conceded from a penalty rebound so far in the tournament they just look there for the taking.
Paraguay are very similar in the defensive area of the pitch these days so this might actually be a higher scoring game than the two Argentina matches so far. S I have highlighted above though, I don’t like this low tempo that Argentina have gone with so far in the tournament. They should still have enough through the maestro Messi to create enough to find the back of the net though so both teams to score looks the way to go to me.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Coral
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