Group B of the Copa America draws to a conclusion on Sunday evening when the final set of matches are played and the first game of the two sees Ecuador vs Haiti in New York.
For Haiti this is a dead rubber, a final chance to show what they can do on a large stage but the stakes are very high for Ecuador. A win will mean that Peru have to get something against Brazil later in the night to deny Ecuador a spot in the quarter final. A big win for Ecuador here and Peru would have to beat Brazil.
Ecuador gave themselves a massive lifeline in this tournament in their previous match. When they trailed Peru 2-0 early on it looked like they would be packing their bags and heading home but to their credit they fought back strongly to level at 2-2 and keep their hopes of progressing very much alive.
Having held Brazil and Peru in the tournament so far they will be widely expected to do a bit of a job on Haiti. Their biggest opponent in this match could be complacency but they do need a big win to take the draw out of Peru’s hands later in the night so I would be surprised if Ecuador do get shabby.
Haiti were taken apart by Brazil and while there is nothing bad about that they have shown they are out of their depth at this level in both matches. Peru might only have beaten them 1-0 but the scoreline flattered Haiti massively that night so the Haitians simply have to improve.
They need to improve at both ends too because although they scored against Brazil they haven’t created an awful lot in the tournament and nothing we’ve seen in the tournament to date suggests they are going to keep Ecuador at bay defensively.
Team News
Ecuador are going to be forced into a change for this match with Gabriel Achilier suspended after his late dismissal in the Peru game. Gustavo Quinteros will need to decide which defender to go with in his place and also whether to start with Jaime Ayovi who made a big difference when he came on against Peru.
Haiti might choose to give some of their fringe players some exposure in this match now that they are out of the tournament. They looked a little better in forward areas with Kervens Belfort playing so he could well start again.
Head to Head
I’m surprised but these two have met on five previous occasions with Ecuador winning three matches and Haiti two. Ecuador have won the last two matches and both have been by a 3-1 scoreline but it is eight years since they last met.
Betting
This isn’t a case of whether Ecuador will win for me it is a case of how many they win by. The handicap lines give Haiti a 2.5 goal start but I’m not convinced that is enough. Sometimes when a team takes a battering after a tight game you can wonder if one of the results was a fluke and on this occasion that is the case.
From what I’ve seen in the tournament it wasn’t the Brazil battering that was the freak result it was Peru only winning 1-0 but only they will know how they only scored one goal in that. Maybe it was rust with it being the first match of the tournament for them.
Either way we’ve seen this Haiti defence opened up at will and with ease throughout the two matches and this attack minded Ecuador side can do just the same and win this by quite a few goals to strengthen their chances of making the quarter finals.
Tips
WON – Back Ecuador (-2) to beat Haiti for a 4/10 stake at 2.15 with Coral
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