Peru and Paraguay square off at the Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico Teixeira in the first quarter-final at Copa America. Both teams will fancy their chances of progressing to the last four but Peru have looked a bit more solid in the competition and should have the edge on Friday.
Peru progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition after finishing second behind hosts Brazil in Group B. They suffered just one defeat in the round robin stage, losing 4-0 to the Brazilians in their opening fixture.
Peru have not looked back since that opening defeat, bouncing back in fine style with a 2-1 victory over Colombia in their second fixture. They also showed great character coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Ecuador before beating Venezuela 1-0 in their final group game.
While manager Ricardo Gareca will be pleased with his team’s showing in Brazil, their defending is likely to be a source of worry with seven goals conceded in just four matches. Their defensive problems stretch to long before Copa America having kept just one clean sheet in their last 19 matches across all competitions.
Paraguay finished third in Group A behind Argentina and Uruguay to book their place in the quarter-finals. Their form in the competition has been inconsistent with two wins and two defeats from their four matches in the group phase.
Paraguay suffered a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay in their final fixture in Group A. They were second best throughout the encounter and could have lost by more with the dominant Uruguayans guilty of being wasteful in attack.
Manager Eduardo Berizzo often sets his team up to concede the majority of possession but be compact at the back. However, the Paraguayans have not been as solid defensively as they would like, often giving away chances to the opposition and keeping just one clean sheet in four matches in Brazil.
How the bookies view it
Paraguay have a slight edge among the bookies with a win valued at 18/11 by SBK. A victory for Peru is priced at 9/4 with Skybet while bet365 is offering 21/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Peru have a 9-6 advantage with four draws from 19 previous matches against Paraguay. The most recent meeting was a 2-2 draw during the World Cup qualifiers back in October.
The Peruvians have been the dominant side in recent fixtures with five wins from the last six meetings.
Players to watch
Midfielder Andre Carrillo has scored in his last two matches, including the winner against Venezuela and could be backed to score the first goal at 9/1 with Unibet. Striker Gianluca Lapadula has also impressed in the tournament and is priced in the same market at 6/1 with Paddy Power.
Paraguay will look to the duo of striker Angel Romero and midfielder Miguel Almiron to provide the spark in attack. Betfred has Romero at 7/1 to score the first goal while Almiron is priced at 8/1 by betfair in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Peru and Paraguay often unconvincing at the back, both teams could be backed to score at 6/5 with Sport Nation. Both teams produced over 3.5 goals in their last meeting and a similar outcome is priced at 9/2 with Paddy Power while over 2.5 goals is valued at 17/10 with SBK.
There are also likely to be goals in both halves at 6/5 with betfair.
This Copa America match between Peru and Paraguay will be played on Jul 2, 2021 and kick off at 22:00. Check below for our tipsters best Peru vs Paraguay prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
