Venezuela vs Argentina 29/06/19

29 June 2019

Argentina will try to snap a three-game winless run against Venezuela when the two nations meet at the Maracanã in the Copa America quarter-finals.

Still unbeaten in this Copa America campaign (W1, D2), the Venezuelans have finished as runners-up in Group B thanks to a 3-1 win over Bolivia in the final round of the group stage. Notably, only two teams have shipped fewer goals than Venezuela at the competition so far (1), as both of their draws in the group phase ended with the same 0-0 scoreline. While Rafael Dudamel can proudly boast his team’s defensive efforts, La Vinotinto’s performance in the final third can’t encourage their head coach. They have bagged 2+ match goals on just three occasions over their previous ten outings, mainly thanks to their mediocre displays in the second half – only two of Venezuela’s last eight goals have come after the halftime break.

Meanwhile, Leo Messi and Co. have struggled to impress in the group stage, having finished second in Group B (W1, D1, L1). Interestingly, both of Argentina’s failures have come against the South American nations, while their only win arrived against Qatar in the final group stage fixture. For La Albiceleste, goals have been in short supply lately, as four of their last five matches featured under 2.5 goals, with two of them producing goals at both ends. Although Argentina managed to find the net in five of their previous six outings, Lionel Scaloni can’t be happy to know his team has scored 2+ match goals only twice in that period. What’s more, Argentina have pulled off just one triumph in their last ten H2H meetings with South American rivals (W1, D5, L4).