Peru vs Bolivia

Peru and Bolivia will trade tackles at the Estadio Nacional de Lima in a World Cup qualifying encounter neither side can afford to lose.

Peru’s hopes of securing qualification for back-to-back World Cup finals for the first time since 1982 are hanging by a thread following a brace of 1-0 defeats away to Bolivia and Argentina. Another underwhelming episode has left the home side second from the bottom, five points adrift of the inter-confederation play-off spot. To get their World Cup qualifying campaign back on the rails, the Peruvians have to claim the three points against a Bolivia side they’ve defeated in three of their last four World Cup qualifying encounters on home soil (D1). Based on Peru’s recent home fortunes in this World Cup qualifying cycle, whoever stays in a better defensive shape will have a bigger chance of winning. Each of Peru’s last four World Cup qualifying home games won/lost has seen the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.

In the meantime, the visitors have given the pursuit of their first World Cup finals appearance since 1994 a leg-up by winning their last two World Cup qualifying fixtures ‘to nil.’ Those two victories have brought Bolivia’s uneventful qualifying campaign (W3, D3, L6) back to life, helping them reduce the gap on the inter-confederation play-off spot to four points. However, before getting ahead of themselves, Bolivia should address their horrendous form on the road, as they’ve yet to win a World Cup qualifier away from home in the current cycle (D2, L4). Indeed, the Bolivians have lost their last three World Cup qualifying games on foreign soil, conceding 3+ goals on each occasion. ‘La Verde’ let in the opener by the 15th minute in each of those three matches, highlighting the potential for plenty of early action.