Argentina, who were crowned world champions in 1978 and 1986, have struggled in the current campaign and are now onto their third coach in Jorge Sampaoli. A return of six wins, four draws and four losses from their 14 fixtures so far leaves the Albiceleste looking nervously over their shoulders ahead of their final four matches, with the Argentines currently occupying fifth place in the standings – which would only be good enough for a play-off spot. Remarkably, they have scored just 15 goals up to now – two fewer than last-placed Venezuela – despite possessing an embarrassment of attacking riches, but the hope is that Sampaoli will be able to instigate an improvement. The former Sevilla head coach enjoyed great success during his time in charge of Chile, taking them to the knockout rounds of the World Cup in 2014 before winning the Copa America on home soil a year later, and will be looking for a repeat with the country of his birth.
Third-placed Uruguay are in slightly better shape heading into this match, although the table is so tight that defeat here would see them fall below Argentina. Unlike their neighbours and upcoming opponents, the 1930 and 1950 world champions have promoted managerial continuity and are still coached by Oscar Tabarez – who first took charge of the national team over a decade ago in 2006. Many Uruguayans will be alarmed by the side’s form in recent months, with five successive losses in both competitive and non-competitive action raising concern as the business end of the qualification campaign approaches. They have conceded 15 goals in those five defeats by Chile, Brazil, Peru, Republic of Ireland and Italy, and will need to be significantly more solid if they are to defeat the old enemy at the Estadio Centenario in the early hours of Friday morning.
Argentina have named Javier Mascherano as a defender in their squad for the first time, which means the Barcelona man could partner Nicolas Otamendi in the heart of the backline. An attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Mauro Icardi and Paulo Dybala look set to start ahead of players such as Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero and the absent Gonzalo Higuain, while Ever Banega, Lucas Biglia, Augusto Fernandez and Leandro Paredes are all contenders to play in midfield. Sampaoli’s side will look to take the initiative, play on the front foot and press high up the field, but they must be wary about conceding too much space to their opponents on the counter-attack.
Uruguay will take the opposite approach, sitting deep, ceding possession and looking to hit Argentina on the break when control of the ball changes hands. Luis Suarez looks set to miss out through injury but could yet feature from the bench, with Edinson Cavani in line to start up top from the start. Veterans Fernando Muslera, Maxi Pereira, Cristiano Rodriguez, Alvaro Gonzalez, Diego Godin and Edigio Arevalo Rios are still key players for Uruguay, who will be relying on experience over youth to get them through this crunch encounter against the Albiceleste.
Taking everything into account, it could be worth backing the visitors to come out on top later this week. Sampaoli has had a little longer to get his ideas across and has the attacking players to make the difference in Montevideo, while Uruguay will miss Suarez hugely and may be affected by their poor recent form. An away win in a game featuring fewer than 3.5 goalsl is one wager worth considering, while Icardi would be an astute choice to find the back of the net anytime.
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