We may have got the fixtures for the new Premier League season already, but the return of domestic football is still a long way off. Luckily, we have international action to keep ourselves entertained until then. This week sees the continuation of the Women’s World Cup, while the European Under 21 Championships kick off in the Czech Republic. While those two competitions don’t offer too much over the weekend, there is also the small matter of the Copa America.
Fans of the South American championships have probably by now been made aware of the broadcaster Premier Sports, and in turn you have probably become frustrated that it’s the only channel showing the action. Though it’s worth noting that Bet365 are streaming the games to those who have betting accounts with them. The Copa is something you should definitely take a look at if you haven’t already, and it offers up a ton of good matches this weekend. Here is our preview to the weekend’s action from the tournament in Chile, with some late night kick offs only adding to the occasion.
Friday 19th June 2015
Mexico v Ecuador (22:00) – Mexico to win (6/4 with Betfair)
Group A’s bottom two come face to face on Friday night, with Ecuador knowing they need a win if they’re to have any chance of making the top two. In the Copa, third place can get you a place in the quarter finals, but to do that you need favours in the other groups. Both of these sides will have their eyes on the top two, and those two sides will be playing each other as well. While Mexico are favourites for this game, Ecuador aren’t a side to underestimate, as their World Cup campaign last year showed.
The Ecuadorians lost the opener to Chile, then they had a shock 3-2 defeat to Bolivia. That saw them rooted to the bottom of the group, but they can still qualify with a win over Mexico. The Mexicans were invited to the tournament, and they’ll want to be competitive, even though they’re literally here to make up the numbers. They drew 3-3 with the hosts in the last game, and if they repeat that performance it should be enough to get them three points.
Saturday 20th June 2015
Chile v Bolivia (00:30) – Both teams to score (23/20 with BetVictor)
The second game in Group A comes a few hours later, in the early hours of Saturday morning. While it’s strange for the group games to kick off at different times, these two sides will come into this game knowing what they’ll need to do to progress. Both of these teams drew with Mexico and beat Ecuador, and they go into the final game locked on four points. The hosts come into this game as heavy favourites to progress, and they’ll want a win to top the group and avoid some of the bigger sides in the quarters.
Bolivia’s last game shows they can score goals, while the Chilean’s 3-3 draw with Mexico shows that they aren’t the most formidable defence to breach. While the hosts are expected to win comfortably, it’s hard to see them keeping a clean sheet. If both sides are pushing for the win here then we should get a game with plenty of goals. With that in mind, our tip for this one is both teams to score, which comes in at the impressive price of 23/20 with BetVictor. If you’re looking for value on this game, then that is the bet for you.
Uruguay v Paraguay (20:00) – Draw (12/5 with BetVictor)
Group B’s final action gets underway on Saturday night, with second and third place going head to head in the first game. Paraguay picked up a shock draw with tournament favourites Argentina in their opener, before recording a routine win over Jamaica. The Paraguayans are proving to be a difficult test in the tournament so far, and that will be the case when they face the holders this weekend. Both sides will be pushing to find a way through, but could both sides make it into the final eight?
Uruguay toiled to a win over Jamaica, before narrowly losing to Argentina last time out. They’ve yet to match their fantastic performances from four years ago, and they remain very much in the form that saw them crash out of the World Cup at the group stage. Despite that, a point would probably be enough to take them through to the knockout stage. That would also seal Paraguay’s progression, and given how well they’ve played so far, Uruguay may struggle here. A draw seems like a fair result between these two, and they both might just settle for it.
Argentina v Jamaica (22:30) – Under 2.5 goals (13/10 with BetVictor)
Argentina are expected to go on and win this tournament, and they should have no problems sealing qualification against minnows Jamaica. With their array of talent it’s hard to see any way the Caribbean side could possibly stop the World Cup runners up, and it’s widely expected that Argentina will give them a big defeat in their final match of the group. Despite that, we’re tipping the unders market for value here, given some recent results. The group leaders are heavy favourites here, but they’re not worth backing to rack up the goals in this game.
If you cast your mind back to the World Cup last year, remember how they toiled against an organised Iran side? They weren’t much in terms of quality, but they defended well and almost stole a point. Argentina haven’t been at their best so far here, and with rotation likely don’t expect them to suddenly improve. They probably should be putting a few past Jamaica, but they have previous in terms of struggling in these kinds of games. At 13/10 the under 2.5 goals market is the way we’re going on this one, with a simple 1-0 or 2-0 to the favourites likely. Don’t expect a goals blitz, Argentina look to be holding back for the knockout round.