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Brazil Host Bolivia In Copa America

International football is back in more ways than one, as we bridge the gap between the domestic seasons. The Women’s World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, alongside the European Championship qualifiers and Nations League, have certainly received plenty of attention as of late. On top of that, however, you’ve also got Copa America coming up. It represents the very best of the Americas in more ways than one, and with the tournament commencing shortly, it’s time to take a long, hard look at how we believe the opening game between Brazil and Bolivia is going to go down.

Brazil have been on a solid run of form as of late as they build up to the tournament. They beat Uruguay and Cameroon in back to back games in November, before an unusual draw against Panama. They went on to pick up three wins in a row against Czech Republic, Qatar and Honduras. In terms of team news, Neymar being ruled out is obviously going to serve as a big blow, but in his absence, Philippe Coutinho is going to be looked upon as the potential talisman. Casemiro, Allan and Fernandinho will be battling it out for the role of the primary defensive midfielder.

Bolivia have work to do and it really is that simple. Their six most recent results are 0-0 draws against UAE and Iraq, a 2-2 draw against Nicaragua, and three consecutive losses. Those defeats came against South Korea, Japan and world champions France. In terms of their team news, Gilbert Alvarez and Marcelo Moreno are going to be battling it out for a place in the starting XI. In terms of the rest of the team, they will probably stick with the majority of the first team players that they featured in their most recent game against France.

Brazil vs Bolivia Betting Prediction

Bolivia are going to try and make this game as difficult as they possibly can for Brazil, but in the end, nothing is going to stop them from running through their opposition – in our mind, anyway. They’ll start to get into their rhythm as the game slowly progresses, to the point where they’ll probably feel progressively more confident. Getting their first game out of the way is going to be important for them, because after what happened at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, they’ll be dying to get the job done in front of their own fans.