Uruguay vs Bolivia

Uruguay will be looking to return to winning ways in the 2022 World Cup qualifying when they take on an improving Bolivia side at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.

With Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez out of the frame, Uruguay stumbled against Peru last time out, managing just a 1-1 draw to extend a winless run in their World Cup qualifying campaign to four matches (D3, L1). Low scoring was a common theme during that sequence as all of those four games featured under 2.5 overall goals, with three seeing one or both sides fail to get on the scoresheet. Thanks to a superior goal difference over Colombia, the Uruguayans float in fourth (last automatic qualification place), but another failure here might see them slip down the standings. A lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, coupled with the absence of two top-class strikers, suggests ‘La Celeste’ will hardly improve on a paltry goalscoring return that has seen them bag under 1.5 goals in eight of their last nine internationals.

Meanwhile, Bolivia’s hopes of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time since 1994 looked slim after the opening three qualifying matchdays (D1, L2). However, ‘La Verde’ have since gone unbeaten in four consecutive World Cup qualifiers (W1, D3) to reduce the gap on the top five places to three points. A positive outcome here would be a massive step forward, but that prospect seems to be far-fetched. The Bolivians have lost eight consecutive away World Cup qualifying H2Hs against Uruguay, conceding 4+ goals in the last four in a row. Additionally, they’ve suffered three straight competitive H2H defeats to this opposition by a two-goal margin, including a 2-0 reverse at the Copa America 2021. Since the beginning of 2019, Bolivia have failed to win any of their 13 internationals held on foreign soil (D2, L11).