The Copa America continues on Sunday night where we head to Group C for the first time for another double header of action which begins with the tournament hosts USA getting their campaign up and running against Bolivia in Dallas.
There is a school of thought that USA are already building towards the World Cup in two years but they will want to show they can be competitive in this company in this event. Bolivia are looking to show that they are not making up the numbers.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Premier Sports 1 channel in the UK with the coverage beginning at 10.50pm for this 11pm kick off.
USA
There will be plenty of eyes on USA in this tournament not just because they are hosting the event and the World Cup in two years but when you entice Lionel Messi into your domestic league there will be attention on whether the standard within the national team improves as a result. We shouldn’t really judge them on this competition alone though because they are balancing this event with the Olympic Games next month as they go about building and enhancing their depth leading up to the World Cup.
This is a rare chance for them to play competitive football though with them not being involved in any World Cup qualifiers so they will certainly be taking it seriously. Their supporters will expect them to come out of this group and if they are going to do that then we want to see what they offer in offensive areas of the pitch. USA have always been organised under Berhalter but the criticism is that he doesn’t get enough of their exciting players into the side often enough.
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Bolivia
Bolivia are seen as the weakest side in the COMNEBOL region and once again they are struggling in World Cup qualifying so they are doing nothing to dispel that theory. Only Peru are underneath them in the standings after six matches and even though the play-off places go down to seventh of the 10 sides in the South America region for the World Cup, it is already looking unlikely that the Bolivians will be involved. They have a chance in this tournament to start to change the narrative.
The big problem for Bolivia is that there isn’t a goal threat in their squad now that Marcelo Martins has retired from international football. All but four members of the group they have taken to the Copa America play on home soil domestically and that league isn’t one of the better in the world so they get found out quickly. The 14 goals they have conceded in World Cup qualifying is six more than any other team so they have issues at both ends of the pitch.
Betting
If the USA are going to do anything in this tournament then this is a match they have to win. Panama are in the group but I think most would suggest that Bolivia are the weakest team in it so USA have to win this match. They are certainly expected to do that with the bookmakers who have them around two goal favourites on the Asian lines while it is just 4/5 that USA win this without Bolivia scoring. I think that might happen but I’m not trusting an American defence just yet.
There is an American I will trust though and that comes in the form of the former Chelsea player Christian Pulisic who I think will be the main attacking threat for the hosts even though he will be utilised through the left wing. You can get odds against on him to score in this match which when you consider he has almost three times as many goals for his country as any other player in the squad looks more than a touch on the big side. He scored in a recent friendly with Brazil and against Germany last year and a brace against Mexico in the Nations League semi-final so he scores against much better teams than Bolivia. USA will look at their captain to lead them forward and I expect him to get himself on the scoresheet in this one.
Tips
Back C.Pulisic to score anytime for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with Unibet
