The second set of group matches in the Copa America come to a close on Friday night as we head back to Group D where Colombia have an immediate chance to book their spot in the quarter finals when they face Costa Rica in Arizona.
The equation for the Colombians is simple. If they win here they are through but if they fail to win they will need something from their last game. Costa Rica have a point on the board already and anything they get from this will help their chances of going through.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Premier Sports 1 channel in the UK with the coverage once again getting underway at 10.50pm and the kick off at 11pm.
Colombia
Colombia went into the tournament off the back of an excellent unbeaten run and while there were a few hairy moments in their opening match against Paraguay defensively, they looked the part and a win here will allow them room to move in terms of protecting players for the knockout stages and not having to risk anyone who is on a booking and things like that. They would also take a step towards topping the group and potentially avoiding Uruguay in the last eight.
Going forward against Paraguay there was a lot to like about Colombia. They attacked with pace and purpose and it is easy to see why they are going so well in World Cup qualifying this time around. They got in front early, added to their advantage and although they were pushed back in the second half, credit has to go to Paraguay for that. There was never really a moment where it looked like they would concede again and if they were a little more clinical at the other end they would have won by more.
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Costa Rica
Going into the tournament it looked like Costa Rica had drawn the toughest task of the lot with Brazil in their opening game and now Colombia in their second one but having held the Selecao in that first match they can play with a little bit of freedom in this second game knowing that whatever happens, unless they take a real pounding, they will still be in the hunt to make it out of the group when they take on Paraguay in the final game in this section.
We didn’t see much from Costa Rica in the attacking department against Brazil but realistically we were never going to because the danger that the Samba Boys have, the North Americans were never going to allow themselves to be exposed. We might not see much more of an attacking threat from them here but having kept Brazil out on Monday night, and in truth never really being under siege from them, the Costa Ricans will be confident they can stay close to Colombia here too.
Betting
Costa Rica go into this match off the back of four successive clean sheets but the first of those was against a much changed Uruguay side, the last was against a stuttering Brazil outfit and the middle two were against Grenada and Saint Kitts and Nevis so while four shutouts is impressive, you can certainly pick holes in them. Four days after working so hard to keep Brazil at bay, I would be surprised if they keep this vibrant Colombia side out.
I think Colombia will win the match. I’ve been keen on them all tournament but we’re not going to get massively rich backing them at around the 1/3 mark and the Asian line of -1.5 doesn’t really float my boat with Costa Rica likely to keep it tight and Colombia only needing to win. Costa Rica failed to score against that changed Uruguay side and offered nothing going forward against Brazil and even in the Nations League quarter final with Panama they lost the first leg 3-0 and only scored in the second leg when they were 3-0 down which was 6-0 on aggregate. If we consider we are unlikely to see them offer much going forward the best value here could well be on Colombia to win to nil. The Colombians have kept four clean sheets in six in World Cup qualifying with only Brazil and Uruguay scoring against them. Costa Rica offer nothing like the threat that they do so I’ll play the Colombians to nil in a game they should dominate the play in if not have it shown so emphatically on the scoreboard.
Tips
Back Colombia to win to nil for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with BetVictor
