The last of the quarter finals in the Copa America might just be the best of them, certainly on paper at least, as two South American powerhouses collide in Las Vegas when Uruguay go up against Brazil in a mouth-watering clash.
Uruguay absolutely dominated their opening group to make it through to this quarter final whereas Brazil had to work a little harder and could only end up coming second. A spot in the semi-final is at stake here but we go straight to penalties if it is a draw after 90 minutes.
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 1.50am ahead of the 2am kick off.
Uruguay
This has been a pretty much flawless campaign from Uruguay so far. They won all three of their group matches and you would have to say they won them with the minimum of fuss too. You could certainly argue that they landed themselves in the kindest section of the draw with Bolivia, USA and Panama all looking much weaker than the Uruguayans but you only have to look at the Euros to see that easy draws don’t automatically equate to comfortable victories.
They have done here though and if anything the three wins should have been even more comfortable for this relentless, high pressing Uruguay attack. You do wonder if that will be their undoing at some point but they are extremely tough to play against which bodes well for them. The one thing which is an unknown is how good they are going to be defensively because their three group opponents were vastly inferior to them. We might find out here.
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Brazil
When you consider that the form of Brazil heading into this tournament was mixed to say the least, the alarm bells were certainly ringing after the opening match when they failed to get the better of Costa Rica, and in truth never really looked like beating them. To be fair though they did a real good job on Paraguay in their second one and you sensed there was more in the tank against Colombia in their last game had a draw not been enough to put them through.
We have seen the Brazil attack start to move through the gears in this tournament and they are probably going to need to nudge it up a level or two here but they do look like they have that in them. Where we are less certain is defensively. Both Paraguay and Colombia have scored against this Brazil side and Colombia could have had more than the one that they got so it will be interesting to see how they handle the Uruguayan pressure here.
Betting
I am a little surprised that Uruguay are outsiders to the tune that they are in this match and I wouldn’t put anyone off backing them in some fashion here but I’m heavily involved in this half of the draw with a ticket for Colombia outright so I wouldn’t mind them facing Uruguay I don’t think. There is a bet which stands out a little more to me than a Uruguay win of some kind though and that comes in the form of both teams to score.
My personal jury is out on both of these defences and I wouldn’t really trust either of them if I didn’t have to so I’m a little surprised that both teams to score is odds against. Uruguay are going to go at Brazil, we know that much and while we might get a few scares relying on the finishing ability of Darwin Nunez, Uruguay are unlikely to lack for chances. I don’t think Brazil are going to lack for them either, even if they are only on the counter. There is too much quality on the pitch for the defences to cope and the styles of the two sides should blend nicely for both teams to score here.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Bet365
