Venezuela vs Ecuador

Ecuador will be looking to solidify their position in the South American World Cup qualification group when they take on out-of-sorts Venezuela at the Estadio Olímpico.

Venezuela long looked to be on the verge of securing their first-ever World Cup qualifying win over Brazil last time out, but they turned a 1-0 lead into a horrendous 3-1 home defeat despite having a goal in hand up until the 70th minute. Nailed to the bottom of the section after claiming just one win from ten matches (D1, L8), the Venezuelans seem to have already waved goodbye to their hopes of reaching their maiden World Cup finals. In addition to losing each of their last four World Cup qualifiers by an aggregate score of 9-2, ‘La Vinotinto’ must be concerned about their sloppy attacking displays. Indeed, Giovanni Savarese’s men have netted under 1.5 goals in all but one of their ten outings in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign, scoring just six in total.

In the meantime, Ecuador made light work of their home meeting with sub-par Bolivia last time out, ensuring a commanding 3-0 home victory to snap a two-game winless streak (D1, L1) in this World Cup qualifying cycle. Having preserved a slender two-point lead over fifth-placed Colombia, ‘La Tri’ must be enthusiastic about their prospects of returning to the World Cup finals for the first time since the 2014 edition. However, Ecuador’s away form in the World Cup qualifiers might raise concerns among the traveling faithful, with Gustavo Alfaro’s side losing three of their four matches so far (W1). Ecuador failed to trouble the scoresheet in each of those three defeats, which is a sharp contrast to their recent H2H fortunes on the road. Indeed, they have found the net at least once in their last three visits to Venezuela (W1, D2).