Chile - Argentina
Chile are certainly playing their part to make things interesting in the race for the fourth and final position for direct entry to South Africa 2010 or at the very least, secure a spot in the eventual play-offs.
The coastal nation have been far too inconsistent in the qualifying campaign. A 2-3 win away at Venezuela in Round 6 was followed by a 0-3 mauling at home to a then disjointed Brazil side. But they bounced back amazingly well to thump Colombia 4-0 several days later, only to lose 1-0 at Colombia last weekend.
But despite the defeat, La Roja are still hanging on to the final automatic qualification spot in fourth place. Things, however, can change very rapidly in their next 90 minutes of football with three other teams below them within touching distance.
Uruguay and Ecuador, lurking just a single point behind, will have considerably easier opponents in their Round 10 fixtures – Bolivia and Venezuela respectively – and they are expected to bag all three points. And if Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile can’t find a way past his former team, then they could find themselves well out of the qualification zone by the time Round 11 rolls around in March of 2009.
Argentina finally ended their five game winless run in the qualifying campaign with a fiery 2-1 win over Uruguay last Saturday. Two early goals from superstars Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero set them on their way but they were unable to add to their tally and had to settle for a narrow victory.
That has pretty much been the story so far for the two-time World Champions: all possession, all flair but not very proficient infront of goal.
For all their attacking talent, the jury is still out on just exactly how lethal and efficient Los Albicelestes are upfront. They have not scored more than three goals per game, while teams like Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay and ofcourse Brazil have all managed to score five times at least once in the qualifying campaign.
Chile
Bielsa will have numerous key players missing, mainly through suspension. Defenders Ismael Fuentes and Gonzalo Jara were both sent off against Colombia in the previous game while midfielder Roberto Cereceda and highly rated young forward Alexis Sánchez are ineligible due to yellow card accumulation.
Probable Starting XI: Bravo – Medel, Ponce, Contreras, Vidal – Carmona, Estrada – Matí Fernández, Valdivia, Mark González – Suazo
Argentina
Playmaker Juan Román Riquelme and forward Carlos Tevez are both suspended after exceeding their yellow card count following their silly bookings against Uruguay.
On the other hand, the likes of Sergio Agüero, Martin Demichelis and Javier Mascherano all picked up severe knocks in that bruising encounter and all three will have to face a late fitness test to determine their condition.
Probable Starting XI: Carrizo – Zanetti (c), Coloccini, Demichelis, Heinze – Mascherano, Ledesma, Cambiasso – Messi, Agüero/Milito, Sand/Di María
Even with this players missing i think 1.75 for Argentina to win seems great
The coastal nation have been far too inconsistent in the qualifying campaign. A 2-3 win away at Venezuela in Round 6 was followed by a 0-3 mauling at home to a then disjointed Brazil side. But they bounced back amazingly well to thump Colombia 4-0 several days later, only to lose 1-0 at Colombia last weekend.
But despite the defeat, La Roja are still hanging on to the final automatic qualification spot in fourth place. Things, however, can change very rapidly in their next 90 minutes of football with three other teams below them within touching distance.
Uruguay and Ecuador, lurking just a single point behind, will have considerably easier opponents in their Round 10 fixtures – Bolivia and Venezuela respectively – and they are expected to bag all three points. And if Marcelo Bielsa’s Chile can’t find a way past his former team, then they could find themselves well out of the qualification zone by the time Round 11 rolls around in March of 2009.
Argentina finally ended their five game winless run in the qualifying campaign with a fiery 2-1 win over Uruguay last Saturday. Two early goals from superstars Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero set them on their way but they were unable to add to their tally and had to settle for a narrow victory.
That has pretty much been the story so far for the two-time World Champions: all possession, all flair but not very proficient infront of goal.
For all their attacking talent, the jury is still out on just exactly how lethal and efficient Los Albicelestes are upfront. They have not scored more than three goals per game, while teams like Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay and ofcourse Brazil have all managed to score five times at least once in the qualifying campaign.
Chile
Bielsa will have numerous key players missing, mainly through suspension. Defenders Ismael Fuentes and Gonzalo Jara were both sent off against Colombia in the previous game while midfielder Roberto Cereceda and highly rated young forward Alexis Sánchez are ineligible due to yellow card accumulation.
Probable Starting XI: Bravo – Medel, Ponce, Contreras, Vidal – Carmona, Estrada – Matí Fernández, Valdivia, Mark González – Suazo
Argentina
Playmaker Juan Román Riquelme and forward Carlos Tevez are both suspended after exceeding their yellow card count following their silly bookings against Uruguay.
On the other hand, the likes of Sergio Agüero, Martin Demichelis and Javier Mascherano all picked up severe knocks in that bruising encounter and all three will have to face a late fitness test to determine their condition.
Probable Starting XI: Carrizo – Zanetti (c), Coloccini, Demichelis, Heinze – Mascherano, Ledesma, Cambiasso – Messi, Agüero/Milito, Sand/Di María
Even with this players missing i think 1.75 for Argentina to win seems great
posted by Midnight Sun @ 22:28,
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