The quarter finals of the Copa America begin on Friday evening when the runners up in Group B take on the third placed team in Group A as Peru meet Paraguay in Goiania as the competition hits the knockout stage.
These two sides have had good campaigns so far and will be looking to pick up the win which will take them into the last four of the competition, where a certain Brazil could be waiting for them next week.
Peru
There were plenty of doubters over Peru heading into the tournament. A lot of that was because the perception was that having left Raul Ruidiaz and Paolo Guerrero at home that this wasn’t really a main focus for them. What people didn’t seem to realise is that they clearly have plenty of strength in depth and have looked very good in the event so far after their got their opening match against Brazil out of the way.
Since then they have won two and drawn the other one so they will be heading into this quarter final full of confidence. If there is an area where they need to improve then it would probably be in their defensive areas where Ecuador and Brazil both opened them up at times but in the attacking areas they have been reasonably clinical. It will be interesting now to see whether the younger players in this squad can continue to keep rising to the occasion.
Paraguay
I expected to see some good things from Paraguay in this tournament as I highlighted in my outright preview before a ball was kicked and I think we have seen that but the one frustration there has been throughout the competition has been in their final third play. They have worked the ball very well but they haven’t had that killer pass or that piece of elite quality often enough to have really catapulted them as a danger team.
Up until the last game, when it could be easy to not be at it mentally given that they were already through to the quarter final by that stage, Paraguay had been very defensively strong and if they are going to continue in this competition you would think that area of their side is going to have to continue to be counted as that would at least guarantee them penalties. If they can find that incisiveness that they have lacked they can still be contenders.
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Team News
Peru will be able to call on the services of Christian Ramos once again after he was suspended for the final group match. Other than him coming into the side the Peru team is likely to be similar to the one which faced Venezuela.
Paraguay have been dealt a huge blow for this quarter final with the news that Newcastle United midfielder will definitely miss this match with the injury he sustained in the game against Uruguay in the last group game and could miss the remainder of the competition.
Betting
I’m already on Paraguay to win the tournament so I don’t really want to add anything to that bet here, not least because I don’t think it is necessarily the easiest match to bet on. I’m expecting quite a tight game and I would imagine Paraguay will rein in their attacking instincts with no Almiron around to pull the strings for them. There is no guarantee that Peru will continue to push things either so I’ll just have a small punt on no goalscorer here.
I’m expecting a tight match here and if we get to the hour mark we might be in territory where teams dare not risk winning for the fear of losing. To be fair penalties isn’t an option anyone wants but it might be the outcome that we end up with in a game which doesn’t set the world alight. Paraguay have struggled to break sides down anyway but they’ve looked tight enough at the back to suggest that no goalscorer is a better than an 11/2 chance.
Tips
Back No Goalscorer for a 1/10 stake at 6.50 with Boylesports
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