Argentina vs Venezuela
The last two quarter finals of the Copa America are played out on Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning and by dawn we will know which four nations will be progressing to play out for the title later next week.
The first of the two remaining quarter finals sees Argentina taking on Venezuela for the right to face the USA in the semi-final. Argentina won Group D to make it into this match while Venezuela were runners up to Mexico in Group C.
You would have expected Argentina to cruise into the quarter finals especially after they beat Chile in their opening match and that is exactly what they did. Lionel Messi only played around an hour in the three matches combined so there is still a lot more to come from the losing finalists of a year ago.
Argentina have shown no weakness in the tournament so far. They have only conceded one goal to date and that was a consolation in their opening match against Chile. Since then Sergio Romero has largely been untested and he will hope that continues here.
There are no doubts about who the surprise packages are in this tournament and after they held on for a draw against Mexico in their final group match it is probably time that they are taken seriously although they are massive up in class here it has to be said.
Ironically in all three group matches they played they looked there for the taking but sometimes you have to hold your hands up and credit a side who can hang in there and be hard to beat and then respond and get something when their chance comes at the other end.
Team News
Now that the competition is getting serious Lionel Messi could well start for Argentina. It remains to be seen who Gerardo Martino will start with up front. Gonzalo Higuain began the tournament but Sergio Aguero played well against Bolivia.
Venezuela have a fully fit squad to choose from for this match. Salomon Rondon was left out of the game against Mexico somewhat surprisingly but you would imagine he comes into the side here. Josef Martinez could start depending on how attack minded Venezuela want to be.
Head to Head
Venezuela have only won one of the 21 matches these two have played although they will take some comfort that the win came two games ago. Apart from that there has been little joy for them as you would expect. This is without doubt the biggest meeting between the two teams.
Betting
Once again I think we are delving into fantasy land in even considering anything but an Argentina win here but I don’t necessarily think that will mean that Venezuela will get thumped. We’ve seen enough from them in the tournament to suggest that while they will be up against it for long periods they can remain tight so backing Argentina on handicaps has to be done with caution.
As it happens I don’t think there is a need to cover any handicaps because the best bet for me in the match is for Argentina to win to nil and that way we have 1-0 and 2-0 covered which wins going down this route but which would lose and only nail a half win if we went down the Asian routes.
The three sides that Argentina have played so far have barely looked at their goal and I’m expecting Venezuela to be tight and compact and maybe try and get this to penalties in much the same way we saw Peru do in the previous quarter final.
Over the course of 90 minutes though you’ve got to think Argentina will break this side down and find the back of the net and if they do I think the chances of them winning to nil must be quite high.
Tips
Back Argentina to win to nil for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Paddy Power
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