Before the 2021 Copa America begins there is business to take care of in 2022 World Cup qualifying in South America, including the meeting between Uruguay and Paraguay.
The match will take place at the Estádio Mineirão and the hosts begin this round of fixtures in fifth place on 6 points and the visitors are one place above, on the same number of points but with a superior goal difference.
📽️ 🇺🇾 La Celeste trabajó en doble horario, a tres días del partido ante Paraguay, y se sumaron futbolistas al plantel.Mirá el video completo en la plataforma de #AUFTV. https://t.co/HQ5LLnEXPf1⃣ Ingresá a https://t.co/nfJkSdCPt62⃣ Registrate3⃣ Disfrutá todos los contenidos pic.twitter.com/Y4KzSjhVM0— Selección Uruguaya (@Uruguay) June 1, 2021
📽️ 🇺🇾 La Celeste trabajó en doble horario, a tres días del partido ante Paraguay, y se sumaron futbolistas al plantel.Mirá el video completo en la plataforma de #AUFTV. https://t.co/HQ5LLnEXPf1⃣ Ingresá a https://t.co/nfJkSdCPt62⃣ Registrate3⃣ Disfrutá todos los contenidos pic.twitter.com/Y4KzSjhVM0
Uruguay come into the match on the back of a 2-0 home loss against Brazil in their most recent World Cup qualifying fixture.
Brazil opened the scoring after 34 minutes and doubled their advantage just before half-time. Edinson Cavani was sent off in the second half and there was no way back into the game for Uruguay.
It was a disappointing result as Uruguay had previously defeated Colombia 3-0 away from home and they were feeling confident ahead of the clash with Brazil.
It has been a mixed start to World Cup qualifying for Uruguay and they have defeated Chile 2-1 at home but lost 4-2 in Ecuador, which was a poor result.
However, trends show Uruguay remain a difficult team to beat and there are no losses for Uruguay in 14 of their most recent 17 games in all competitions.
Their home World Cup qualifying record shows just 2 defeats in 19 home fixtures. The last time these teams met in World Cup qualifying with Uruguay as the home team, the hosts came away with a 4-0 win.
Paraguay come into the match having been held to a 2-2 draw at home by Bolivia in their previous fixture. It was a match they were hoping to win, especially having taken the lead after 19 minutes.
However, Bolivia had other ideas and scored two goals just before half-time. Paraguay found an equaliser with 18 minutes remaining of the game but could not go on to take maximum points.
That result means Paraguay remain undefeated in 2022 World Cup qualifying having won one and drawn 3 of their 4 matches.
The victory came away against Venezuela and Paraguay have been held at home against Peru and picked up a good point thanks to a 0-0 draw in Argentina.
However, trends show Paraguay have achieved just 1 win in their 9 most recent games in all competitions. Paraguay's last 5 away games in all competitions have seen under 2.5 goals scored.
Team news and Uruguay will be without striker Edinson Cavani who is suspended. Jonathan Rodriguez or Brian Rodríguez will join Luis Suarez in attack. Jose Maria Gimenez is a key man in defence.
Paraguay will start with Ángel Romero in attack and he will be supported by Miguel Almirón and Óscar Romero from midfield.
We expect this to be a keenly fought contest, with little to separate the two teams. There is a good chance we will see under 2.5 goals scored and the game end level.