Uruguay vs Bolivia Prediction: Nunez to fire La Celeste towards knockouts
Uruguay can take a giant step towards the Copa America quarter-finals if they take care of Bolivia at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the early hours of Friday morning.
Marcelo Bielsa was pleased with their opening Group C win over Panama in Florida but the experienced boss was quick to suggest La Celeste will need to improve game-by-game if they are going to be genuine contenders for a 16th Copa America title.
Bolivia posed no major threat in a 2-0 opening defeat to tournament hosts the USA in Texas and La Verde head for New Jersey on a run of 13 straight Copa America losses. Here we pick out the best bets for Friday's Copa America clash, which kicks off at 02:00 BST.
Uruguay vs Bolivia Betting Tips
Uruguay are heavy favourites at 1/7 for this tussle with 14/1 Bolivia, while the draw can be backed at 5/1.
Darwin Nunez is 5/2 to score the first goal, while over 3.5 goals – which happened in Uruguay's Copa America opener – is 6/4.
Uruguay to win both halves @ 6/5
Uruguay are ranked 70 spots above Bolivia in the FIFA rankings and that class difference should be apparent in New Jersey.
The Bolivians have a poor recent record of letting in early goals. Five of the last eight they have conceded have occurred within the first half-hour of games, while Christian Pulisic's early goal for the USA in their Group C opener was the second game in row they have fallen behind inside five minutes.
Bielsa demands aggression from his team, a constant drive to be on the front foot. That showed against Panama right until the end in their opener, with two goals coming from the 85th-minute onwards. They should be much too strong for Bolivia and can win both halves.
Darwin Nunez to score two or more goals @ 18/5
Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez has scored four times in two games for Uruguay this month already and arrives into this contest brimming with confidence just a few days beyond his 25th birthday.
He took his goal against Panama well, instinctively lashing home a left-footed volley from inside the box as the ball dropped towards him.
Veteran Luis Suarez was an unused sub in that contest and Nunez is becoming Uruguay's leading man now. There should be plenty of chances to add to his dozen international strikes from 24 previous caps here and in his current mood, he looks a snippet of value to bang in at least two goals.
Bolivia most booking points @ 4/7
Bolivia had four bookings in their opener against the USA, three of those cautions coming in a four-minute spell in the first half as the frustration of falling behind early yet again showed.
In their final warm up game, a 3-0 loss to Colombia, Cesar Menacho got himself sent off in the second half for a needless altercation, while previous to that they had five cautions in a friendly against Ecuador.
Uruguay got through their game against Panama without a caution and Bolivia should win the card count here quite easily.
You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.
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