Argentina vs Paraguay 20/06/19

20 June 2019

In-trouble Argentina side will face a must-win task when they take on Paraguay at the Mineirão for their midweek’s Copa America clash.

The 14-time Copa America winners started the tournament off on the wrong foot, having suffered a frustrating 2-0 loss to Colombia in their opening game. It was the second time in Lionel Scaloni’s ten games in charge that his team has struggled to find the net – both times against the same rivals. What’s more, La Albiceleste failed to pick up a win against a South American nation in all four matches in the post-World Cup period (D1, L3), scoring barely one goal across those outings. Also, Argentina have struggled to beat Paraguay in their last two competitive H2Hs (D1, L1), missing out on the target in both of those games.

Meanwhile, Paraguay dropped a two-goal lead over Qatar in the first round of Copa America fixtures to play out a 2-2 draw with the Asian side. It extended their miserable run of form, leaving Los Guaraníes with just one triumph in eight games over the past 15 months (W1, D3, L4). Still, La Albirroja have been lethal in front of rivals’ goal recently, with Eduardo Berizzo’s men scoring in all four of their previous outings while netting 2+ match goals on three occasions in the process. Berizzo’s main problem ahead of this encounter could, however, be Paraguay’s inability to keep a clean sheet that has seen them concede at least one goal in ten of their last 11 games.