The second match in the Copa America on Sunday night sees the tournament heading to the home of the Miami Dolphins for the first time as Uruguay take on Panama in the opening game for both teams in Group C.
USA and Bolivia are the other two teams in this group so both of these sides will fancy their chances of progressing out of the section and a win here would put whoever gets the victory on the right road in that quest.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Premier Sports 1 channel with the coverage getting started at 1.50am ahead of the 2am kick off in Miami.
Uruguay
Uruguay head over to America very much with chances of winning this competition under Marcelo Bielsa. He has really transformed their fortunes and made them a much better watch in the process, which is no mean effort when you consider the level of talent of the golden generation for whom time has been called. In many ways Bielsa is a perfect coach for this young, energetic Uruguay side and this is the first time they get to show that in tournament play.
Uruguay go into this tournament sitting second in the World Cup qualifying standings in South America so they are looking good to make it back to this part of the world in a couple of years. The thing that immediately stands out on their record is that they have scored five more goals than any other team in qualifying and are currently averaging 2.17 goals per game. That includes a 2-0 win over Argentina which is never a bad result.
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Panama
The next few years are going to be big ones for Panama. They go into this tournament off the back of reaching the Gold Cup final a year ago and with USA, Mexico and Canada all out of the way in World Cup qualifying in their part of the world they will be expected to make it through to the main tournament once again so football in Panama is about to explode you suspect. A good showing here will only speed up the process.
Panama will have to do things the hard way in this opening match though with their defensive midfielder Anibal Godoy ruled out of the tournament which could leave their back line exposed a little more than they would want against this potent Uruguay side. If Panama can keep things honest here they will fancy their chances of coming through in the last two games but a bad beating here would make things much tougher.
Betting
We haven’t really seen goals in the tournament so far but I do think we will see them in this match and I’m happy to jump on over 2.5 goals. Marcelo Bielsa has this Uruguay side purring going forward and there is enough depth in the squad that should players change in the second half that there is quality coming on. Bielsa will also know that Brazil could lie in wait if Uruguay fail to win this group so I expect his side to be on the front foot throughout as always.
The fact that Panama are without a key defensive shield isn’t going to help their chances and I wonder if they will look to be more adventurous as a result of that. We’ve seen in the Nations League and the Gold Cup in the last 12 months or so that there are more goals in this Panama side and they might get the chance to exploit a defence which can be exposed. Uruguay are perfectly capable of scoring three times here but I wouldn’t be surprised if Panama find the net so I’ll take the over in this one.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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