Group B of the Copa America will conclude in Foxboro on Sunday night when Brazil play Peru in what will surely be a shootout after Ecuador have secured their qualification earlier in the night.
Brazil know a draw here will see them into the knockout stages while Peru are likely to need to win should Ecuador have beaten Haiti by a couple of goals in the first game as they are expected to do.
It is hard to know what to make of Brazil so far. They were laboured and quite poor in their first match against Ecuador and they were never going to face much of a challenge in their second game against Haiti so maybe we’ll get a better chance to assess them here.
Brazil did look fairly solid against Ecuador although there are many in the Ecuadorian camp who thought their disallowed goal in that game was a good one and they got caught out pushing the boat out against Haiti. I’m expecting them to go back to the tight side we’ve seen them be in the main under Dunga, World Cup semi-final aside.
Peru might be about to pay the price for only beating Haiti 1-0 in their tournament opener. What makes that result worse is the fact they know they should have won that by four or five without getting out of second gear but those missed chances could be coming back to haunt them.
If that wasn’t bad enough they surrendered a wonderful position to qualify when they were 2-0 up on Ecuador in their previous match. If they get into a winning position here they are going to have to be better focused to make sure they don’t let it slip again.
Team News
Brazil are without the Real Madrid man Casemiro who is out of this game with suspension but there is talk that Miranda could be fit to return having missed the opening two matches. Philippe Coutinho bagged a hat trick in the last game and has been urged to continue taking risks by Dunga.
Peru have going into the tournament lacking a bit of attacking depth due to Jefferson Farfan’s injury but they have actually looked fine going forward. They looked very shaky in defence when Ecuador started piling it on so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Yoshimar Yotun starting to shore them up a bit.
Head to Head
Brazil have won 30 of the 42 matches between these two nations and haven’t been beaten by Peru since 1985, some 17 meetings ago. Brazil have won four of the last five too so Peru are going to be up against it in this match it must be said.
Betting
There is just something in the back of my mind making me doubt Brazil in this match. I’m not sure if I doubt them winning but certainly enough to cover a handicap. This just has one of those trappy feels about it which the Copa America always provides where the minnows somehow manage to get something from the game against all the odds.
I’ve certainly got a feeling this will be a much tighter match than either played in the previous set of fixtures although I guess were Brazil to score early it could soon open up into something spectacular so with no strong feelings on any of the main markets I’m going to sit this one out and wait for the Monday matches before going in again.
Tips
No Bet
