The second part of the action in the Copa America on Sunday evening sees Colombia looking to hit top spot in Group B when they take on Peru in a tasty looking clash in Goiania on a night which could be pivotal for both sides.
Colombia have four points from their first two matches but with Brazil to come in their final game this might conceivably be their last chance to pick up three points to add to their tally. Peru are yet to get off the mark but they’ve only played once and they’ve got Brazil out of the way so perhaps their tournament begins here.
Colombia
You have to give credit to Colombia for picking up four points from their two matches to date but it is hard to argue that they have been anything but disappointing so far in the tournament. They have only scored one goal in their two matches, which came as a result of a well worked set play, and you wouldn’t say either opponent have been hugely under siege from them at any stage. I get the aim of teams in this tournament is to peak in the knockout stages but even so I’d have expected more from Colombia so far.
The positive for Colombia is that in the main they haven’t looked like conceding a goal but that should be acknowledged alongside the fact that on paper at least they have faced the two weakest sides in the group. There might be a lot more to come from La Tricolore in this tournament but I just sense that they are lacking the creative quality of a James Rodriguez and for all the pace in their side teams are able to counteract that by defending deep.
Peru
There is no doubt that Peru were disappointing and disappointed after their opening match against Brazil. They lost it 4-0 and from the minute they fell behind it was always looking like a case of how many they would lose by. Although they lost by four two of those goals came very late on and added a different perspective to the margin of victory. While you couldn’t argue Peru deserved anything from the match, I’m not so sure they were four goals worse than the Samba Boys.
In a sense, Peru start their tournament here and it will be interesting to see what they have to offer. They have left a couple of experienced strikers at home but if you look at World Cup qualifying they weren’t exactly pulling up any trees anyway so perhaps the young blood will prove their worth. A draw here wouldn’t be a bad result but after that beating in their opening match, Peru can’t afford to allow goal difference to be the separator between qualifying and not qualifying.
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Team News
Colombia will be forced into a couple of changes for this match with Luis Diaz and Matias Uribe ruled out of the contest through suspension. They made plenty of switches from game one to game two and using the squad looks to be their method of action in this tournament.
Peru have left leading lights like Raul Ruidiaz and Paolo Guerrero at home for this competition so their options for changing without weakening the side aren’t as strong as they might otherwise have been so they could be unchanged.
Betting
I understand that Peru aren’t at full strength in this competition but I don’t really want to trust Colombia after two very timid and pretty uninspiring efforts in their opening two matches. They haven’t really convinced me in attack and while they have looked solid enough defensively they haven’t faced anyone to test them, neither have they played anyone capable of keeping the ball against them so they have more questions than answers for me.
They do face that in this Peru side and although they might be lacking a bit of quality up top, I think there is enough of a possession based approach in this Peru side to keep the ball and enough to cause problems for Colombia without necessarily being opened up at the back. I get the idea of Colombia being favourites but with four points to their name they are already through so they might place more of an emphasis on keeping everyone fresh now. I’m happy to take Peru on a large looking +0.75 Asian line and if we lose half so be it. I think Peru can take something from this game though.
Tips
Back Peru (+0.75AH) to beat Colombia for a 3/10 stake at 2.02 with BetVictor
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