The penultimate set of matches in the group stage of the Copa America concludes on Thursday evening when we have another double header of action which gets underway in Cuiaba as Bolivia take on Uruguay.
These two sides have both played two matches in the competition and they have one point between them which Uruguay picked up in a draw with Chile last time out. That makes this effectively a knockout match for both teams.
Bolivia
Bolivia have been more competitive than most expected them to be when they came a cropper with Covid-19 problems ahead of the tournament. They were good enough to get in front of Paraguay in their opening match before a sending off completely changed the course of that match and then they restricted Chile to precious little in their next game but the problem they have now is that with Argentina in their final game they don’t have much room for getting points other than in this game.
Bolivia have proven quite stubborn but they need to find a way to trouble sides going the other way else they are going to be the team eliminated from this group. They know that if they lose this match they are as good as out of the tournament so they might think that if they are going to go then they are going to go down having a go. That might make them slightly more dangerous but clearly they need much more than they’ve shown so far.
Uruguay
I don’t think Uruguay have been fantastic in this tournament either really but they do have potentially their toughest two tests in the stage out of the way so they can relax and look to pick up the win which will guarantee their path into the quarter finals. When you look down this Uruguay squad on paper it should be contending at the deep end of this competition but they need to find a win from their last two matches to be here when the knockout matches come along.
Uruguay need to impress more in front of goal. They have two of the best strikers in the competition so one goal from their two matches just isn’t good enough. If they can get the ball to the likes of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani more regularly you would think that they will fire them through to the next stage, especially with their defence still looking miserly as ever even though there is a lack of mobility in that department.
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Team News
Bolivia will have Jaume Cuellar back from the ban he served against Chile after his red card in the opening match of the tournament. Bolivia are really missing their captain Marcelo Martins though and lack a potency in his absence.
Uruguay have chosen to use some substitutes early in the two matches so far to keep everyone involved but this is their best chance of a win which they need not just to progress to the next round but to avoid Brazil in the quarter finals. That is likely to make them name a full strength side here.
Betting
I can’t say I’ve been overly impressed with Uruguay in this tournament so far but I do think that they have enough to get the job done in this match. The question is how to get the most value out of a 1/6 shot. You could back them to win to nil but quotes of 8/11 don’t really inspire me in that either when you think it only takes a moment of madness or a piece of brilliance and that is the end of that so I’ll go for another market instead.
That is for Uruguay to win the match and there to be less than 3.5 goals. Uruguay don’t strike me that they are about to batter a team and if they don’t concede a goal it is hard to see them scoring four, for no other reason than if they are on easy street in this match then they are likely to rest players for the tests to come. I expect Bolivia to play with a deep defence which will need breaking down and while Uruguay should have enough to do it I’m not convinced they will run riot.
Tips
Back Uruguay to win and under 3.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Betway
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