The weekend of big finals continues on Saturday evening when the eagerly anticipated Copa America final is played out at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro as the heavyweights of Argentina and Brazil meet in a mouth-watering conclusion to the tournament.
This is the final all neutrals wanted when the tournament started last month and after some good football mixed in with some disappointing stuff, we should get the final the event deserves. This match is the only time that should the scores be level after 90 minutes extra time will be played before penalties.
Argentina
After just doing enough to maintain a decent position in the first stage of the competition Argentina have found their feet in the knockout part of the tournament. They cruised to victory against a disappointing Ecuador side in the quarter final before overcoming the challenge of Colombia in a penalty shootout after a 90 minutes in which they were the better side for the majority of it, without killing the game off like they should have done.
That would be the criticism of this Argentina side so far. They have left plenty in reserve in attacking departments in the tournament to date and you would imagine that if they are going to come out on top in this final then they are going to need to show up a more clinical side to their game. They looked a little deceptive to pace against Colombia so against a vibrant Brazil side that might be something to worry their supporters.
Brazil
The tournament hosts Brazil have come through the knockout phase without conceding a goal or the need to go through a penalty shootout but they themselves haven’t looked overly convincing in either match. I guess they deserve some slack for their quarter final effort because they were down to 10 men for the majority of the second half but there were no excuses for their indifferent display against Peru in the semi-final.
In the end they were a little lucky to overcome that challenge as they were reliant on their goalkeeper Ederson to save them on a couple of occasions. We haven’t really seen the best of Brazil in this tournament. As neutrals we hope that they have saved themselves for this final and they show us all that they have in this match. If they don’t then they could leave themselves vulnerable to a talented side who certainly don’t lack motivation.
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Team News
Argentina look set to be unchanged for this final which means that once again Sergio Aguero will have to be involved from the bench if he is to play a part in it. Lautaro Martinez scored in the semi-final and will take his place in the front three.
Brazil will have to play in this final without Gabriel Jesus whose ban was upgraded to two matches for his assault on the Chile defender in the quarter final. That could mean we see Tite name an unchanged side with Lucas Paqueta keeping his place in the team.
Betting
I don’t think we’ve seen the best of either side in this competition. Of what we have seen you could argue that Argentina have shown us the better stuff but it has to be said that with the exception of Colombia the opposition they have faced hasn’t been up to much. Brazil look to have played within themselves and although one or two of the xG figures they have produced have looked good, you’ve not really felt their opponents have been under siege very often.
That makes this a tough final to call and while there is value on Argentina to win the trophy, the opposition they have faced could make the form flatter them. I’m going to go against the trend here and take both teams to score. This has only landed in one of their last seven meetings surprisingly but both defences have looked open here. With the attacking class that is on show here those defences are going to be tested like never before in this competition so far and the drift on both teams to score has made that an attractive enough price despite how tight this final might be.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Betfair
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