Uruguay vs Colombia

Uruguay and Colombia are set to trade tackles at the Estadio Centenario in a massive, heavyweight World Cup qualifying fixture.

The Uruguayans have gone from strength to strength since resuming their World Cup qualifying campaign in the post-Copa America period, racking up two victories from three qualifying fixtures (D1). However, barring a 4-2 home thrashing of South America’s worst-ranked nation Bolivia back in September, Oscar Tabarez’s men have netted under 1.5 goals in five of their last six World Cup qualifying matches. Despite their paltry goalscoring return in recent times, Uruguay look to be in a prime position to qualify for their fourth consecutive World Cup finals. Sitting four points clear of sixth-placed Paraguay, ‘La Celeste’ are warm favorites to claim a precious victory here, having defeated Colombia in each of their last four World Cup qualifying H2Hs at home by an aggregate score of 11-3.

In the meantime, Colombia edged past Chile 3-1 at home last time out to snap a three-game winless streak in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign (D3) as they currently occupy the solitary play-off spot. Yet, a slim two-point lead on the closest followers Paraguay puts Colombia’s hopes of securing their third World Cup showpiece appearance in a row in jeopardy. On top of that, ‘Los Cafeteros’ have won just one of their five away matches in the current World Cup qualifying cycle (D3, L1), conceding an average of 2.00 goals per game in that sequence. The Colombians have drawn five of their last seven World Cup qualifiers on hostile turf (W1, L1) and would gladly settle for another point here, having failed to manage that feat since October 2001.