4 TIPS FOR THURSDAY & FRIDAY'S SOUTH AMERICAN WC QUALIFIERS - 24/3/22

Brazil, who currently sit top of the South American World Cup qualifying table, host Chile at the Maracanã Stadium on Thursday night. Chile are sixth in the table, having played a game more than Brazil, and need points on the board if they are going to have a chance to qualify for the finals.

Only the top four nations qualify directly to the finals, the fifth-place team will go into an intercontinental play-off against an Asian country.

Brazil’s last game, back in February, saw them 4-0 winners against Guillermo Barros Schelotto's Paraguay, goals from Premier League stars Raphinha (Leeds) and Philippe Coutinho, (Aston Villa) saw them to a comfortable victory. Chile’s last game was also a successful victory against Bolivia, a narrow 3-2 win saw them keep their qualification hopes alive.

In the all-time head to head record between these South American giants, Brazil lead with an impressive 53 victories to Chile’s eight.

The last time they faced off against each other Brazil won 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Flamengo midfielder Everton Ribeiro. Brazil has named a strong squad for this international break, with PSG star Neymar returning to the squad.

With Brazil being the home team for this tie, we’re expecting at least two goals for them. So far in this qualification campaign, Brazil have averaged over two goals per game, scoring 32 in 15 matches so far.

Though technically Colombia can still qualify for the World Cup Finals in December, their chances are slim, needing two wins from their remaining two games, as well as the teams above them to drop points.

To make matters worse, Colombia haven’t won in their past 5 games and face a Bolivia side who have scored more goals and won more games than them in this qualification campaign.

Earlier in the campaign, the game ended 1-1 between the two sides and saw Bolivia go down to 10-men. This match will likely be another cagey affair with several cards for both sides, though goals should be at a minimum.

Out of Colombia's last eight games, only one of these matches has produced over 2.5 goals, Bolivia on the other hand have been relatively free-scoring, though will find it hard to break through the Colombian backline. Bolivia approaches the game below Colombia in the table but find themselves in much better form than their opposition, winning two out of their past five qualifiers.

It's fourth against fifth as Uruguay host Peru this Thursday evening, in what promises to be a massive game at the Estadio Centenario.

Both teams will be eyeing a win that would cement their place in the automatic qualification top four positions, the loser will likely have to face the play-offs or miss out on qualification altogether.

Uruguay come into this game off the back of two victories against Venezuela and Paraguay respectively, however it is Peru’s form that is the most impressive of the two sides, as they have remained unbeaten in their past six games, with four wins in those games.

The previous game between these sides ended in a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Nacional de Lima in Peru. Due to Peru’s outstanding recent form were backing ‘Peru or Draw’ in the double chance selection.

This Friday night Argentina will host Venezuela at La Bombonera, Argentina come into this game in second place in the table, four points behind leaders Brazil, with both having played 15 matches out of 18, and neither side has lost a game.

Due to Argentina's great form, which has seen them remain unbeaten since last summer’s Copa America, we're predicting a comfortable victory for the side captained by Lionel Messi.

Though Argentina haven't been free-scoring this campaign, with only 23 goals in 15 games, this time out they face Venezuela, the bottom side, who have conceded 30 goals already this campaign. It has been reported that Messi will start as he looks to add to his 80 goals in 158 appearances for his country.

In their head to head record, Argentina has come out triumphant in 23 out of the 27 games, however, Venezuela did record a 3-1 Victory over Argentina in 2019.