South American World Cup qualifying is one of the toughest in the World and the 2018 edition has proved no different. With just three rounds of matches left, only Brazil are guaranteed a place in the 2018 World Cup finals and have they have pulled away at the top of the group which contains 10 teams. Argentina were one of the favourites to join them in Russia but come into this match with Venezuela in fifth place, 13 points adrift of Brazil.
Argentina cannot afford to make any more mistakes if they are to finish inside the top four places and qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Unfortunately for Venezuela, they sit bottom of the group and can no longer qualify.
World Cup Qualifiers – Wednesday 6th September / 00:30
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Draw Best Odd of: 10 at Coral |
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Argentina
VenezuelaArgentina Form
Argentina have won 6, drawn 5 and lost 4 of their 15 World Cup qualifying games. Despite boasting a wealth of great attacking options such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala to name but a few, Argentina have struggled to score goals.
Argentina have scored 15 goals, at an average of 1 goal per match and only Bolivia have a worse record having scored 13 goals. On the other hand, Argentina have proved tough to break down and have conceded 14 goals, with only Brazil boasting a better record.
Argentina have lost just 2 of their last 16 home World Cup qualifying games. However, both of those defeats have come during this qualifying campaign and they lost to Ecuador and Paraguay.
Venezuela Form
Venezuela have found this World Cup qualifying campaign to be extremely difficult and they come into this game sitting bottom of the group, with no chance of qualifying for the finals.
They have picked up just 1 victory in their 15 matches, with 4 draws and 10 defeats leaving them with 7 points from a possible 45 available.
Their solitary victory came in the home match against Bolivia and while it was a good 5-0 win, Bolivia are the only other team in the group who cannot qualify as they sit one place above Venezuela at the bottom of the table.
Away from home in World Cup qualifying games Venezuela have not won a single match in their previous 10 attempts, losing 8 and picking up 2 draws. They failed to keep a clean sheet in any of those 10 matches.
Team News
Lionel Messi is clearly the star man for Argentina and their top scorer with 4 goals in qualifying. The Barcelona forward is sure to start the match and could be joined by both Sergio Aguero and Paulo Dybala as Argentina search for goals.
Venezuela will be looking towards West Bromwich Albion striker Salomon Rondon to get the goals in this game and he is likely to start up-front on his own. Venezuela are sure to pack the defence and try and make things difficult for Argentina.
Top Betting Tips
Despite struggling in this group, Argentina came into this match as huge favourites for the win and can be backed at 1/12 with William Hill to take a much needed 3 points.
Venezuela have nothing to play for and Argentina have recently defeated Colombia and Chile at home, two much stronger teams without conceding a goal. Argentina to win the match to nil is 8/15 with Ladbrokes.
This is match Argentina should be winning comfortably and it would give them a boost for their final two matches. Argentina to win by 3 or more goals is 4/6 with Ladbrokes.