Qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup continues in South America this week and on the 12th of November we have a meeting between Argentina and Paraguay at the Estadio Alberto J.
Armando, Buenos Aires. Argentina begin the round of fixtures in second place on 6 points while Paraguay are in fourth place on 4 points.
#SelecciónMayor Hogar dulce hogar 💙 pic.twitter.com/Plr6yHa1Z7— Selección Argentina 🇦🇷 (@Argentina) November 9, 2020
#SelecciónMayor Hogar dulce hogar 💙 pic.twitter.com/Plr6yHa1Z7
Argentina started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a home match against Ecuador. It was a game they were expected to win comfortably but having taken the lead via the penalty spot in the 13th minute the remainder of the game became a bit of a struggle.
Argentina managed to keep a clean sheet but they could not add to their goal and the game ended 1-0.
Into their second match and Argentina travelled to La Paz in Bolivia and came away with an important 2-1 victory. Playing in La Paz is never easy due to the altitude and Argentina fell a goal behind in the first half.
However, an equaliser scored by Lautaro Martínez got Argentina back in the game just before half time and they scored the winning goal with 11 minutes remaining on the clock.
Trends show Argentina are undefeated in their last 9 games in all competitions. That includes each of their last 4 home matches. The last time Argentina met Paraguay was at the 2019 Copa America and the game finished in a 1-1 draw.
Paraguay come into the game having defeated Venezuela 1-0 away from home in their previous 2022 World Cup qualifying fixture. It appeared as though the match was going to finish 0-0 but a late goal scored by midfielder Gastón Giménez sealed maximum points.
It was an important victory for Paraguay who started their campaign with a 2-2 draw at home against Peru. The away team opened the scoring early in the second half but Paraguay struck back quickly with an equaliser before taking the lead in the 81st minute of the game. However, Paraguay could not hold on and Peru scored an equaliser just 4 minutes later.
Trends show Paraguay are undefeated in their last 5 games in all competitions, including each of the last 4 away from home. They managed to pick up a 1-0 victory in this fixture in the 2018 World Cup qualifying group and have remained undefeated in 4 of their last 6 away World Cup qualifying matches.
Team news and Argentina can call upon Lionel Messi, with Lautaro Martínez likely to join the Barcelona star in attack. Ángel Di María adds to the attacking options for Argentina.
Paraguay have a Spanish based forward of their own in Antonio Sanabria of Real Betis. The experienced Óscar Romero is set to start in midfield along with Miguel Almirón of Newcastle United.
Argentina will begin this game as the favourites but will be expecting a difficult night in Buenos Aires. Paraguay have what it takes to make this game tight and we could see the match end level with under 2.5 goals scored.