Copa America: Uruguay vs Bolivia Preview, Prediction & Betting Tips

We expect Uruguay to be the favourites for this game and record a comfortable victory against Bolivia as Marcelo Bielsa’s side could secure qualification. Uruguay boasts a brilliant record against Bolivia with four wins from their last five competitive meetings.

The game is likely to favour Uruguay in the possession statistics with Marcelo Bielsa’s team having a 55% possession rate in their previous victory against Panama. Bolivia was relatively poor in ball possession in their defeat to the USA with only 39% of the ball.

Bolivia is not expected to cause Uruguay, any problems defensively, having failed to score in their previous game against the USA. Bolivia have failed to score a goal in three of their last five games and have averaged only 0.4 goals in those five played.

We are predicting Uruguay to win 3-0. Uruguay will have far too much quality in their team to avoid any upset against Bolivia.

The Copa America is underway and in Group C, one of the favourites for the tournament in Uruguay play a Bolivia side who are expected to finish as one of the bottom two teams within the group. This match promises to be intriguing, as Uruguay could potentially secure their place in the quarter-finals with a win over Bolivia.

Date: 28/06/2024

Kick-Off Time: 02:00

Location: MetLife Stadium

Uruguay began their Copa America campaign with a 3-1 win over Panama and their performance against the former World Cup participants, showed great encouragement for their chances in this tournament. Marcelo Bielsa’s teams are normally famed for high-octane football and in the opening game against Panama, his side created 20 shots on goal as well as 1.55xG.

Uruguay opened the scoring in the 16th minute through a wonderful strike from Maximiliano Araujo – who currently plays for LIGA MX side Toluca. Despite their advantage in the statistics, Uruguay’s second goal didn’t arrive until the 85th minute. Darwin Nunez capitalised on a loose clearance to double the lead for La Celeste with a smart finish into the bottom left corner. Bielsa’s side tightened their grip on the victory with a set-piece goal from Matias Vina, despite Michael Murrillo’s consolation goal for Panama. For Bielsa’s side, qualification for the quarter-finals is firmly within their sights following their opening game victory. Uruguay are currently top of the group standings and a victory over Bolivia would essentially secure a route to the last eight, barring any complications. If both Uruguay and the USA were to win both of their respective games, then the final game between the two nations would be merely for group supremacy.

There is potential for Uruguay to lose or draw against Bolivia, which would leave them in a position to require a result in their final group game to ensure qualification, however, that is deemed highly unlikely. The ideal situation for Uruguay would be for a win in their game against Bolivia and for Panama to secure a result against the USA, so a top spot in the group would look even more certain.

Uruguay is currently listed as the third favourite on SkyBet with odds of 9/2 to win the tournament and historically they have been excellent in this competition. Uruguay holds the record for the most Copa America wins with 15 – tied with Argentina. Their last competition win was in 2011.

As for Bolivia, qualification for the quarter-finals is slim following the 2-0 defeat against the USA. The listed away side for this game was comfortably beaten across all the statistics and in the scoreline. Bolivia only managed six shots in comparison to their opponents' 20 in the previous game and now their qualification chances are hanging on by a thread.

To have any chance heading into the final game against Panama, Bolivia would need a result against Uruguay and hope that Panama could potentially beat the USA. Although the chances of this happening are relatively slim. Bolivia does have one Copa America title to their name which came in 1963 when they were the host nation. Bolivia has competed at 28 Copa America championships.

The previous meeting between the two sides resulted in a 3-0 win for Uruguay, thanks largely to a brace from Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez.

The game will be shown live on Premier Sports 1.

Uruguay Team News

Expect Uruguay to feature the same eleven as they look to secure qualification. Rodrigo Bentacur is likely to have an impact from the bench having replaced Federico Valverde in the previous game. Question marks will be raised over Ronald Araujo as the Barcelona defender was replaced by Mathias Olivera at half-time.

Bolivia Team News

Bolivia will more than likely be lining up with a 3-4-1-2 which they deployed against the USA to nullify the opposition and perhaps look for opportunities on the counter.

Despite being tipped to win the tournament, Uruguay comes into this game with slightly above-average form, yet not remarkable by any means. Marcelo Bielsa’s side have only won two from their last five international games, although they are unbeaten in their last two games – including the win over Panama.

One of the more impressive victories for this Uruguay side was their recent display against Mexico in which they won 4-0. Darwin Nunez was tremendous for La Celeste scoring three goals from five shots, whilst winning 50% of his ground duels.

The Liverpool striker has already begun his tournament finely by scoring against Bolivia, which was the striker’s 11th goal in 23 appearances for Uruguay. Nunez now has four goals in his last two games for club and country, breaking a run of ten games without scoring for Liverpool.

Despite winning only twice in their last five international games, Uruguay is unbeaten in their last five competitive meetings – discounting friendly fixtures. Before the tournament, their last competitive fixture was coincidentally a 3-0 win over Bolivia in the CONMEBOL section of World Cup qualifying.

Bolivia is in poor form, all things considered, which doesn’t bode well for their chances against Uruguay. La Verde have only won once in their previous five games with their only win being against Andorra. The victory for La Verde was a closely contested affair with Ramiro Vaca providing the only goal of the game. Andorra did have eight corners to Bolivia’s four, although they failed to take advantage of the set-piece opportunities.

Bolivia, who are bottom of their Copa America group, are also second bottom of their World Cup qualifying group. Bolivia have only won one competitive game in their last six – excluding friendly fixtures – and that was against Peru. Previously, La Verde had endured a run of four competitive games without a win.

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