Paraguay vs Brazil
, KO: 01:30 Jun 9, 2021, Estadio Defensores del Chaco
Brazil will look to maintain their 100% record in the South American World Cup qualifiers when they travel to the Estadio Defensores del Chaco for a clash against Paraguay. The hosts are also unbeaten in the qualifiers but that run is expected to come to an end against the solid Brazilians.
Paraguay played out a 0-0 draw against Uruguay in their previous qualifying fixture. They will consider themselves lucky to earn the point as the Uruguayans had the better chances and even had a goal controversially disallowed off for offside.
The result means manager Eduardo Berizzo has now overseen an eight-game unbeaten run across all competitions for the Paraguayans. However, six of those matches have ended in draws with four of them coming in their five fixtures in the qualifiers.
Paraguay remain unbeaten after five qualifying matches so far but have ridden their luck a few times. Their inability to turn draws into wins could be their undoing, along with their defence that has conceded four goals in two home matches in the qualifiers.
Brazil maintained their perfect start to the qualifiers with a 2-0 victory over Ecuador last time out. After a frustrating first half, Richarlison opened the scoring while Neymar sealed the win with a retaken penalty deep into added time.
La Selecao are setting the pace in the qualifiers with manager Tite guiding his team to a perfect record of five wins from five matches. That fine run has been driven by a solid defence that has kept five clean sheets in six matches across all competitions.
The Brazilians are excellent travellers and have not tasted defeat on the road since 2015. They travel to Asuncion off the back of seven consecutive away victories.
How the bookies view it
Brazil are overwhelming favourites among the bookies with an away victory priced at 4/7 by Unibet. Paraguay are outsiders at home at 23/4 with MansionBet while a draw is set at odds of 29/10 with Unibet.
The Brazilians have looked almost unstoppable in the qualifiers and should ease to a comfortable victory.
Head to head
Brazil have a 7-5 advantage with three draws from 15 previous matches against Paraguay. The most recent meeting was a 0-0 draw in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Copa America with the Brazilians winning on penalties.
Players to watch
Neymar has scored four goals in his last two qualifying matches and will be the one to watch for Brazil. The PSG forward could be backed in the first goalscorer market at 7/2 with Paddy Power.
Brazil's attack often gets all the attention but coach Tite has turned the team into a defensive powerhouse. Eder Militao and Marquinhos started in central defence against Ecuador and will be confident of leading the team to a fifth clean sheet in six qualifying matches at evens with betfair.
Anything else catch the eye?
Brazil's fine defensive record means a win to nil could be on the cards at 11/8 with Red Zone. A -1 handicap for the Brazilians could also be considered at 7/4 with Paddy Power.
The Brazilians are also likely to score in both halves at 24/13 with Sport Nation. Having scored a hat-trick in his previous away appearance, Neymar could also be tipped to score two or more goals at 6/1 with Paddy Power.
This match between Paraguay and Brazil will be played on Jun 9, 2021 and kick off at 01:30. Check below for our tipsters best Paraguay vs Brazil prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
