Peru vs Costa Rica Predictions

For Costa Rica Thursday’s match against Peru is their final warm up game ahead of the Gold Cup, where the visitors will be hoping for a positive result in Lima’s high altitude and to avoid any injuries. The hosts Peru have another friendly after this one against fellow South American side Colombia, before their first Copa America group game against Venezuela.

Peru lost 2-0 in their last friendly back in March, when they took on El Salvador in the District of Colombia. The teams went in goalless at the interval, but shortly after the hour mark Trauco scored an own goal to put El Salvador in front. Peru pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but ended up being undone of the break in stoppage time when Ceren scored to wrap up a 2-0 win for the underdogs. Costa Rica’s last match was also back in March when they played host to Jamaica in a friendly. Fuller broke the deadlock in the twenty-eighth minute, with what turned out to be the winning goal for Costa Rica. Both teams made multiple changes in the second half which took the flow right out of the match, but the hosts managed to hold onto their slender league and pick up a win in front of 10,000 fans at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica.

The head to head record between these two countries and their performances since the latter stages of 2018, all point towards both teams scoring on Thursday and a good chance Peru will win the game. Both teams have scored in thee of the five previous meetings between these two countries, with Peru have won three of those five previous encounters. Peru have only failed to score in two of their last six matches, while Costa Rica have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last six matches. Both teams have scored in three of Costa Rica’s last six matches and the visitors have lost three of their last five away games, which is why we’re backing a narrow 2-1 win for Peru on Thursday.

Paolo Guerrero and Jefferson Farfán have 181 senior international caps and 61 goals between them, but both are now in their mid thirties and the hosts could really do with some younger attacking threats to take their places over the next year or two. 37-year old Álvaro Saborío has 35 goals in 108 appearances for Costa Rica and along with Joel Campbell, Bryan Ruiz, and Celso Borges, provide the main source of goals in the visitors squad. We’re confident that both teams will score on Thursday, and have predicted a 2-1 win for Peru. The high altitude in Peru tends to give the hosts even more of an advantage against their opponents, and although Costa Rica won their last trip to this country, the overall head to head record suggests that Peru are the best choice to win the game. Both teams have ageing squads and are likely to make lots of changes in the second half, which could disrupt the flow in the final half an hour. Costa Rica have lost away at Guatemala, USA, and Colombia in their last five games on the road, so we’re expecting another defeat for the visitors on Thursday.