Group C of Copa America 2019 is widely expected to be the tightest of the three sections in the opening phase of the competition, and it gets underway in the second of the two matches on Sunday when Uruguay take on Ecuador in Belo Horizonte.
With defending champions Chile and invited nation Japan the other two sides in this group there should be some extremely competitive action across all the games here. Hopefully teams will look to go on the offensive despite that and not put the shutters up.
Uruguay
Uruguay head into this tournament fancied by many to go all the way. We have already nailed our colours to their mast and the reason for that is fairly obvious given the credentials that they have. They are one of few teams in this competition that start with two strikers, two very high quality operators too, but they still have enough about them defensively not to be exposed very often and to hamper them in any way.
The other reason to like them is the nice blend of youth and experience that they have in their side. There is a lot of tournament knowledge in this team and mixed in with a bit of flair and excitement there is a lot to like about Uruguay. They don’t lack for creativity either so they should go very well right from the outset in this match.
Ecuador
Generally sides like Ecuador struggle in this part of South America. They are so used to playing at altitude and it is such an advantage for them to do so that when they are back down towards sea level they are often found wanting a little. I will be interested to see how they go here. On the face of it they are quite an exciting team but we’ve already seen a couple of them have the shackles on in the first three games of this tournament.
I wouldn’t say this is the best Ecuador side we have seen in recent times but with them going very well in the younger age group events there should be a decent talent pool to pick from in the future, which may well focus the minds of those who have been selected for this competition. If they can allow their attacking flair to come to the fore they might cause a bit of a surprise to the reckoning.
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Team News
Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are yet to feature in a full international in 2019 but both are expected to start this match which could leave Girona forward Cristhian Stuani looking on from the bench to begin with.
Ecuador will be spearheaded by former West Ham United forward Enner Valencia while Manchester United utility man Antonio Valencia will be looking for the chance to use the tournament as a shop window.
Betting
I saw Ecuador in their warm up match against Mexico last weekend and they looked horrible defensively so I would expect Uruguay to get a lot of joy in attacking areas with the likes of Nicolas Lodeiro potentially pulling the strings behind the front two. It remains to be seen whether Ecuador can get in behind this tough as teak Uruguayan defence, something not many sides are able to do.
I’m not going to overthink this one. I think Uruguay will get the job done here and with the money for the draw throughout Sunday I now think Oscar Tabarez’s men are decent enough value to get the result they desire. Ecuador may offer glimpses of something here but I just can’t get over their defensive weaknesses which makes me think that our outright punt is a good thing on this occasion.
Tips
WON – Back Uruguay to beat Ecuador for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
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