The second match of the two in Copa America on Saturday evening sees our first real heavyweight contest of the tournament taking place when the two stand out sides in Group B meet in Salvador as Argentina take on Colombia.
It is very rare for the leading two sides to meet in the first group game of a tournament so it will be interesting to see how that switches the dynamic here. Both nations will have their eyes on winning this competition but will need to start strongly.
Argentina
If you won trophies just for getting to finals then Argentina would be ordering a new cabinet to house theirs as they have made four of the last five title showdowns in Copa America history. Sadly for them they have lost all four and are in danger of this golden generation of stars leaving their international tenure empty handed so the pressure is somewhat on them over the next few weeks.
Despite their poor record at getting over the line in this tournament, expectation remains strong around them as you would expect. At the World Cup last year Argentina looked pathetic in defence and that is something that needs to change here but their strength is very much their attacking play and it will be interesting to see just how free flowing they are in that area. The last thing they need is to be shackled when going forward.
Colombia
The Colombians will go into this tournament quietly fancying their chances of delivering a major run. I don’t think this is quite their very best squad in recent times but they do look to have plenty of bases covered and that is never a bad thing. They have impressed in recent tournaments too and won’t need to find a whole lot more to get over the line in one of them. They have sufficient experience to lay down a real challenge here.
What I like about Colombia is the pace they have in attacking areas. That is often key in this part of the world while in Falcao they still have someone who will put chances that come his way away. Defensively Colombia are often sound and with their likely centre-half pairing coming from the Premier League they shouldn’t lack for quality in that area of the pitch.
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Team News
Argentina are spoilt for attacking riches in this tournament, so much so that Lionel Messi might be the only starter who is guaranteed. Tottenham fans could get a chance to see their transfer target Giovani Lo Celso as he pushes for a start.
Colombia aren’t short of attacking options themselves with Falcao and Duvan Zapata potentially starting alongside each other up front. Davinson Zanchez and Yerry Mina of the Premier League are in line to line up in defence.
Betting
All the motions would suggest that we might lack for goals in this match but that is surprising in a way because both have very good attacking units and you would have kittens if you were going to rely on either of these defences given the vulnerabilities they have shown over the last extended period of so. Argentina have faltered so much in that area that even Nicaragua scored against them last week.
I can’t ignore getting a line of 2 in the goal department for this match and while I acknowledge it will likely be tight given that this is the one truly big clash of the group stage I just don’t trust these defences not to concede. I like over 2 goals and I’ll have a small play on Yerry Mina to score anytime too. He’s a massive threat from set-pieces and the 14/1 on him finding the net at some point is just too big.
Tips
PUSH – Back Over 2 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
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Back Y.Mina to score anytime for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfair
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