23rd March 2016 Kickoff: 2300hrs Uruguay v Brazil Football – International – South America World Cup Qualification South American qualification started all the way back in October 2015 so we’re definitely getting to the business end of the campaign for the nations who hope to be competing in Russia next summer. Two of those very much involved meet in Thursday evening as leaders Brazil travel to face second placed Uruguay. No matter what happens the visitors will remain top of the section but both know a win would go a long way to ensuring they qualify.
Uruguay are bound to be pleased with their progress through these qualifiers and are well on course to reach what would be their third straight World Cup finals. Although they are four points behind Brazil coming into this one, what’s more crucial for Uruguay is they have a three point lead of their own over their nearest pursuers Ecuador and Chile, and it’s fair to say the teams are stacking up in behind them with only five points separating second to sixth. When you breakdown Uruguay’s form it’s readily apparent that they are simply a much stronger outfit when playing at home than when having to travel. They’ve won all six home games scoring 16 and conceding just one goal. It’s in direct contrast to form on the road where they have managed only one win in six games. It makes this fixture all that more important.
It has been quite the transformation for Brazil since last summer’s Copa America in which they severely disappointed, eventually leading to Dunga being sacked for a second time as Head Coach. Victory for the U23’s at their own Olympics was the catalyst for Tite who was entrusted with leading the football-mad country to Russia. It is now six straight wins in qualification for Brazil, conceding just one goal in the process. The most impressive victory in that run was without doubt the dominant 3-0 success against Argentina in their penultimate game. That was a signal of intent for this Brazilian team who have came in for a lot of criticism since that humiliating 7-1 defeat against Germany in the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup and for most of that team who are still playing, it will be surely be the motivation to qualify as soon as possible and attempt to reclaim their place at the top of World football.
Uruguay v Brazil Betting Tip
When these two nearly enough a year ago to the day, they played out an entertaining 2-2 draw and we can hope for more of the same on Thursday. You would expect that both Uruguay and Brazil are more than likely to end up competing in the finals next summer but nothing can be taken for granted in this section so obtaining as many points as possible is of paramount importance.
The bookmakers have Brazil as slight favourites for this one and it’s little surprise considering their recent run of form. However, Gabriel Jesus has been pivotal in leading their attack during that time and as he is missing, it could just upset them a little. Should that be a case then Uruguay are perfectly equipped to take advantage with their lethal partnership of Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez up to. Their home record speaks for itself and I fancy them to edge this one and close the gap at the top to one point.
Uruguay 12/5 @ Sportingbet
