Uruguay vs Peru

Uruguay host Peru at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo for this South America World Cup qualification round 17 clash Friday morning Beijing time. Stakes are high here and I expect a tough battle. There are many world-class teams in this group and this qualification group offers high-quality entertainment for football fans! Both Uruguay and Peru have a bunch of talented players and are capable of play fine football. Winning this would earn the hosts a ticket to the World Cup in Qatar later this year. They must be very motivated to do just that in front of amazing fans. Football is very important for the people of Uruguay. I believe the betting market has perhaps not given enough emphasis on the home advantage here. It is true that Uruguay are not as strong as strong as they were about 10 years ago but are still formidable force and clearly better than Peru by raw class.

Uruguay have been good under Diego Alonso who replaced Oscar Tabarez. Indeed, they have won two of their latest matches. In their most recent game, they swept past Venezuela 4-1 a home. Venezuela surprisingly had 58% ball possession but could not really hurt Uruguay that much.. They only recorded 3 shots on target. Uruguay’s number was 11 and they also created 22 scoring attempts. Maybe 4-1 was a bit too clear a win in terms of events on the pitch but they still played well. Before this they traveled to Paraguay, not an easy place to win in, and flew back home with all three points. A very solid performance, especially defensively. Paraguay only had 2 shots on target Before this they were lame on Bolivia losing 0-3 at super-high altitude in La Paz, but I would not be too worried about that result ahead of this ultra-motivating match. Peru have achieved good results recently but have not fully convinced me on the pitch. They have also not faced top opposition lately.. They have had some luck in many matchs, and will probably need that today as well to avoid defeat here.