Brazil vs. Bolivia Betting Preview and Pick
The 46th edition of the Copa America is starting in a couple of days and the hosts Brazil are welcoming underdogs Bolivia in the opener.
Brazil vs. Bolivia
- Copa America
- Estadio do Morumbi, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Saturday 15 June
- 01:30 UK Time
Brazil vs. Bolivia Game Preview
Brazil are the biggest favourites to win this year’s Copa America not just because they are hosting the tournament, but also because they have the strongest squad, at least on paper. On the other hand, Bolivia are one of the biggest underdogs and they rarely get positive result outside their country, so anything but comfortable Brazil’s victory would be a huge surprise.
Brazil Team News
Brazil are looking for their 9th Copa America title and first since 2007 while they are without a major trophy since 2013 when they won the Confederations Cup. After disappointing displays at the last two World Cups, the Golden Squad are under a lot of pressure to deliver a trophy in front of their own fans and they have an opportunity to start with three points against the weakest rival in Group A.
Head coach Tite had to adjust his squad only a few days before the tournament starts as superstar Neymar suffered another ankle injury and will miss a month. However, Tite is delighted to have a strong team consisted of European- based players; actually, only three players are currently coming from Brazilian league – goalkeeper Cassio, full-back Fagner, and forward Everton. In Neymar’s absence, the fans are expecting to see Philippe Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, and Richarlison to lead the attacking line.
In the modern era since 1975, Brazil have never lost their opening Copa America game anywhere to a CONMEBOL side (W11, D3). What’s more, the Selecao have never lost to Bolivia outside of Bolivia (W16, D2), whilst scoring a whopping 77 goals against them (4.28 AGPG) in such games, and conceding just eight!
Brazil Latest Form
Since a defeat to Belgium in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Russia, Brazil played ten friendly games and won nine of them with one draw. They scored 25 goals and conceded only two in return while the Brazilians are on a three-game winning streak. Tite’s side dismantled Panama 7-0 in the final test game before the Copa America. Brazil haven’t conceded a goal on home soil in eight games – scoring 26.
Bolivia Team News
Bolivia’s only major trophy in history came at the Copa America back in 1963 and since then, they only managed to win one medal, the silver in 1997 when they hosted the tournament and lost to Brazil in the final.
Unlike Brazil’s Tite, Bolivia’s head coach Eduardo Villegas is exclusively relying on players who are playing in their native country as just three are playing outside Bolivia. Two of them, defender Luis Haquin and midfielder Alejandro Chumacero are at the Mexican side Puebla while striker and Bolivia’s best player, Marcelo Martins, is playing for the Chinese club Shijiazhuang Ever Bright. Martins needs three goals to equal Joaquín Botero’s record of 20 goals for the country and former Shakhtar Donetsk forward will surely be highly motivated at this tournament.
Marcelo Martins Moreno was the last Bolivian player to score against Brazil back in 2009. Twelve of the 14 Bolivia games he scored in saw both teams score, while 11 of his strikes were either as the first or last goalscorer.
Bolivia Latest Form
Bolivia are on a dreadful run of just one win in 16 games (D7, L8). Nine of those games actually saw them fail to score, while only one saw them score first. Furthermore, Bolivia’s record in the opening game of this tournament is abysmal, winning just one of their last 14 openers (D8, L5), which incidentally was against Brazil, but at altitude in La Paz. Five of Bolivia’s last six games saw under 2.5 goals.
Brazil vs. Bolivia Head to Head
These rivals have met 28 times and the all-time record is W19 D4 L5 for Brazil while the previous encounter at Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz ended without goals. Brazil never lost to Bolivia at home and they dropped a win in just two of 17 duels while Bolivia haven’t scored a first-half goal in the last six H2Hs played in Brazil. The last three H2Hs with goals have seen one side strike within the opening 12 minutes.
Brazil vs. Bolivia Betting Tip
The odds on Brazil’s win are too low and can be completely ignored but considering that they usually have no problems to comfortably beat Bolivia at home, we’re expecting a strong performance from the hosts in the opening game of the tournament.
- Odds above average
- Fair new customer bonus
- Outstanding football betting selection
- Odds above average
- Fair new customer bonus
- Outstanding football betting selection
The -2.5 Asian handicap is available at 22/25 odds with 888Sport while you can also opt for the hosts to score over 2.5 goals at 6/10 with William Hill.
