Ecuador vs Bolivia

Ecuador will entertain lowly Bolivia at the Estadio Banco Pichincha in what’s a seemingly must-win World Cup qualifying fixture for the hosts.

Currently occupying the fourth and final automatic qualifying spot, the Ecuadorians look to be on course of reaching their first World Cup finals since 2014 at the halfway point. However, an underwhelming return of three defeats from their last five World Cup qualifying encounters (W1, D1) has seen Ecuador’s lead on sixth-placed Paraguay run thin, as they take the field sitting just two points clear of the Paraguayans. Yet, ‘La Tri’ will take some optimism from their decent home showings in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign, having won three of their five matches on home soil (D1, L1). Notably, Gustavo Alfaro’s side netted 2+ goals three times during that five-game sequence, which has been the case in each of their last three H2Hs at home (W3).

In the meantime, Bolivia went winless in their three World Cup qualifying fixtures in September, losing the last two in a row (D1), as their hopes of reaching their first World Cup finals since 1994 look to be dropping rapidly. Bolivia’s disastrous away record in the ongoing World Cup qualifying cycle douses any embers of optimism (D2, L3), as does their disastrous defensive return of 3.00 goals conceded per match in that spread of games. The only team to lose all of their fixtures in the summer’s Copa America, the Bolivians have let in 22 goals in the current World Cup qualifying cycle, more than any South American nation to date. That doesn’t bode well for them heading into a historically tough clash with their opponents here, as they’ve conceded 2+ goals in five of the seven H2Hs on hostile territory this century.