Argentina vs Nicaragua Predictions

Argentina have gone with a largely inexperienced squad for the upcoming Copa America, barring some of the usual suspects such as Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, and Otamendi, with twelve of their call-ups having under 10 caps to their names. Nicaragua provide the opposition on Saturday and have never played Argentina before and haven’t played any nation of this quality for a long time, so even though the visitors are in good form we expect them to get easily beaten this weekend.

Argentina rested all of their experienced players for their friendly against Morocco back in march, but still managed to win the game thanks to a solitary second half strike from Correa. Dybala was probably the biggest name to play on the day and the striker was taken off in the seventy-ninth minute and replaced by Lo Celso. Nicaragua’s last match was also back in March, where they took on Barbados in Bridgetown. The visitors had more of the ball and made it count in the second half with a goal from Barrera that won the game, but Barbados created more goal scoring opportunities and will have been disappointed to lose.

The form of both sides, their performances, the level of opposition they have faced this year, all suggests Argentina will win and that there are likely to be more goals in the second half compared to the first. Argentina have won four of their last six international matches and have kept four clean sheets during that period. Nicaragua were beaten 2-0 by Haiti back in November, with both goals arriving in the first half, but the majority of Argentina’s goals in their last six matches have arrived in the second half. Nicaragua haven’t played a team of Argentina’s class for a long time, but were beaten 3-0 by the USA in 2018, and Messi and Aguero have scored a combined 104 goals in 218 caps for Argentina and will be eager to add to their tallies ahead of the Copa America next weekend. We’re backing a 5-0 win for the hosts, with the majority of the goals arriving in the second half.

Messi, Aguero, and Di Maria all offer a potent goal threat that the visitors defence will struggle to keep quiet, especially in the second half as the Argentina’s fitness increased fitness levels are bound to have an impact on the match. Nicaragua captain and midfielder Juan Barrera has scored seventeen goals in forty-nine appearances for his country, but is bound to find his chances limited against Argentina with his side unlikely to see much of the ball. We’re confident that the majority of the goals in this game will arrive in the second half, and have predicted a 5-0 win for Argentina. The hosts are by far the more talented squad and have key and experienced players in defence, midfield, and especially up front, which should see them through to a convincing winning margin.