World Cup Qualifications: Brazil vs. Argentina Preview, Odds, Prediction

The rivalry between Brazil and Argentina is maybe the biggest one in football across the whole world. Another chapter in that magnificent contest comes this Sunday night in Arena Pernambucano in Recife. The two sides meet in World Cup qualifiers, less than two months since their clash in the finals of Copa America. That match was significant because Lionel Messi finally won a trophy with Argentina, while on the other side, for the Brazilians, it was one of the worst experiences ever.

Preview

Brazil (+140) wants revenge for the defeat in the finals. They were hoping to win the title at home, and boost the morale before the Olympics and next year’s World Cup in Qatar. Fortunately, the Selecao came back from Brazil with gold, which eased the pain after a shocking loss against Argentina.

They defeated Chile on Thursday night, in Santiago, 0-1, after a rough and tough battle that saw lots of tension on both ends. Everton Riberio scored the only goal in the 64th minute of play, handing Brazil its seven straight wins in the qualifiers.

So far, their goal difference is 17-2, and the low-efficient contests had become Brazil’s trademark in recent times. Selecao’s last four games saw just one team scoring and one goal in the entire game.

Argentina (+210) is without a defeat in 21 matches, with the latest one in Venezuela, where they defeated the hosts 1-3 this Thursday. Lionel Messi was in the center of attention as Adrian Martinez’s savage tackle nearly broke Messi’s leg. Fortunately, nothing happened to the new PSG star.

The Argentinians swiftly beat the rivals, scoring the opening three goals, and the one name we need to mention is Lautaro Martinez who had a goal and an assist in this match.

We’ve noticed that Argentina’s defense tends to concede when playing on the road, and three of the past four road trips in the qualifiers saw them allowing at least one goal. Overall, this team has six consecutive wins, and that tells all about their form at the moment.

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Brazil is without its Premier League players, two goalkeepers, Ederson and Alisson, plus Thiago Silva, Gabriel Jesus, and Richarlison.

On the other side, there aren’t any notable absences in the Argentinian team. Messi is available, as well as all other big names.

Head to Head Games

The Copa America finals took place on July 11th, and the only scorer in that game was Angel Di Maria in the 22nd minute. Prior to that event, these teams met in one friendly international in 2019, and Argentina triumphed then too.

The past four head-to-head games were with under 2.5 goals and with only one side scoring.

Prediction

Like in the recent encounters, Sunday’s game will also be defensive-minded. Both sides are OK with taking one point, as they don’t lose anything. Brazil is first, Argentina is pretty much safe when talking about Qatar, so why risking anything. Both Title and Scaloni won’t risk anything, but will instead make a conservative game plan resulting in low efficiency. Therefore, our pick is under 2.5 goals.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals -166