THE Euros will hog the football headlines this summer but there’s another festival of football taking place in South America, the Copa America.
The Copa America will overlap with Euro 2020 this year, giving fans a feast of games to gorge on.
The tournament kicks off next Sunday and was originally meant to take place in Colombia and Argentina.
But it has now been moved to Brazil due to the off-field issues and that has made the hosts favourites to defend the title they won in Rio two years ago.
The best price on the Brazilians just now is 9/4 at William Hill and that’s pretty good value as they have been in impressive form under gaffer Tite.
Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup is already underway and Brazil had won their first four games heading into last night’s clash with Ecuador.
The goals have also been flowing freely, with Tite’s side smashing five past Bolivia, four against Peru and two away to Uruguay.
They begin the Copa against Venezuela and are McBookie’s 2/13 hot favourites to kick things off with a victory.
The Venezuelans are 14/1 rank outsiders and it’s easy to see why as they have picked up just three points from their first five World Cup qualifiers.
Bolivia battered them 3-1 on Thursday night so morale will be low heading into the Copa.
Boss Jose Peseiro can take some heart from the fact his side only lost 1-0 on their last trip to Brazil back in November but I fancy a more comfortable win for Tite’s side next Sunday.
A Brazilian win doubled with over 2.5 goals pays 5/6 at McBookie and is a good option for accas.
Neymar didn’t play a part in Brazil’s last Copa triumph due to injury, with the likes of Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus stepping up instead to become new heroes. But he’s back for this year’s tournament and netted a hat-trick in the World Cup win over Peru.
The PSG superstar is 6/1 with Bet365 to be the top scorer at the Copa and that’s worth a punt as he’s Brazil’s penalty taker.
Lionel Messi leads that market at 4/1 with Betway as he bids to end his agonising wait for some silverware with Argentina.
The Barcelona star is running out of time if he wants to enjoy some success in international football.
Messi has lost three Copa finals with the Argentines who are 11/4 with most firms to win the tournament.
Lionel Scaloni’s men are unbeaten in World Cup qualifying but haven’t really impressed, with Chile holding them to a 1-1 draw on Thursday night.
The revitalised Alexis Sanchez scored Chile’s goal and long-odds punters can back him for Copa top scorer at 25/1 with Bet365.
The teams face off again in their Copa opener and I fancy BTTS at 9/10 with McBookie.
I'm a sports journalist, football tipster and author from Dundee, who is now working in Glasgow. I've covered games at every level, from Junior football to internationals, and still love football even though it has clearly sold its soul. I've been in football tipping since 2018 with the MFT site.
9-4 for Brazil at William Hill hasn’t been available for nearly a week now. Oddschecker hasn’t updated this. It is 6-5