Preview: Uruguay vs. Bolivia – prediction, team news, lineups – Sports Mole
Uruguay will battle Bolivia on Thursday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for a second successive Copa America campaign as matchday two action concludes for Group C.
La Celeste came away with a 3-1 victory over Panama on matchday one, while Bolivia suffered yet another defeat in this competition, 2-0 against the USA.
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Some late magic assured an opening match victory for Uruguay at the Copa America, as they scored twice beyond the 85th minute, claiming a third straight win in the group stage of this tournament.
True to Marcelo Bielsa‘s style, the Uruguayans came out aggressively in their opener, firing 11 shots in the opening 20 minutes, four of which were on target.
That victory not only extended their winning run in the group phase of this tournament to three consecutive games, but they are also now unbeaten in four successive Copa America group contests.
After going winless in their first three matches of 2024, scoring just twice over that stretch, Los Charruas have won two straight encounters by a combined margin of 7-1.
With a victory on Thursday and a USA win or draw versus Panama, they would advance into the knockout stage for a third straight Copa America campaign.
Uruguay have won nine successive international affairs when leading at the half and have not lost when in front at the interval since a 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica at the 2014 World Cup.
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Matchday one was a familiar feeling for the Bolivians, who conceded early and found themselves chasing the game throughout the 90 minutes.
Antonio Carlos Zago‘s men have gone behind within the opening five minutes in each of their previous two games, while five of their last eight goals conceded have occurred within the first half-hour of a match.
Their losing run at the Copa America is now at 13 games, while they have only claimed one victory in their previous 31 fixtures at this tournament (3-2 over Ecuador in June 2015).
Bolivia conceded eight times in their previous three fixtures after allowing just one in their two matches played before that.
In three of their previous four Copa America encounters, the Bolivians have failed to find the back of the net, and they have not scored in the opening 45 minutes since a 1-0 triumph over Andorra in March (1-0).
La Verde are in danger of being eliminated with a defeat combined with a victory by the USA, and they have not beaten Uruguay in this competition since 1997 (1-0), losing five of their previous six encounters against them.
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There were concerns about the status of Ronald Araujo after the Uruguayan defender was taken off at the half for Jose Gimenez in their opener, though the Barcelona man said on his Instagram account that it was due to dehydration and a drop in blood pressure, adding that he is OK.
Goals from Araujo, Darwin Nunez and Matias Vina were enough to give Uruguay a victory on matchday one, with the latter scoring his first as a member of La Celeste.
We saw two newcomers in the Bolivian starting 11 who had not begun their match against Colombia, as Diego Medina and Gabriel Villamil replaced Hector Cuellar and Robson Tome.
Three of their players are in danger of being suspended for their final group fixture, with Jesus Sagredo, Luis Haquin and Leonel Justiniano all receiving a yellow card in the opening game.
Uruguay possible starting lineup:
Rochet; Nandez, R. Araujo, Olivera, Vina; Valverde, Ugarte; Pellistri, De Arrascaeta, M. Araujo; Nunez
Bolivia possible starting lineup:
Viscarra; Je. Segredo, Haquin, Jo. Sagredo; Justiniano; Medina, Terceros, Saucedo, Villamil; Ramallo, Miranda
Uruguay have a habit of convincingly winning against the Bolivians, and we have difficulty believing La Verde will be able to contain that intense Uruguayan press.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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