Uruguay vs Venezuela Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Uruguay started World Cup qualifying in excellent fashion as they beat Bolivia away from home and then Colombia at home in their opening two matches. They did lose at Ecuador but a 3-0 win over Chile and a well earned 2-2 draw in Brazil got them back on track and was followed by a routine victory at home to Peru.

Then it was time for the Copa America Centenary edition, and it didn’t go quite so well for them. Luis Suarez was injured for the majority of the tournament and Uruguay fell to a 3-1 defeat to Mexico in their opener. They then lost 1-0 to Venezuela to dump them out of the competition at the group stages, so their 3-0 win against Jamaica didn’t matter.

It looked like that poor form would continue when they lost to Argentina in their return to World Cup qualification, but they pulled it back with a 4-0 thrashing of Paraguay. Edinson Cavani’s two goals in this game has taken him to the top of the scoring charts with five goals, and centre back Diego Godin has three as well. Uruguay have the joint best attack and the best defence in this World Cup qualifying group, and as such they sit atop the table with 16 points. A defeat could see them drop to 3rd though.

Venezuela aren’t likely to be winning in Uruguay though. The visitors come into this game bottom of the table with just two points to their name so far. They have scored regularly, but their 21 goals conceded makes them the worst defensive outfit in the group.

Last time out Venezuela managed to get a 2-2 draw at home to Argentina, but prior to that they had lost to Colombia and been on the end of a couple of heavy defeats. Their only other point came in a 2-2 draw in Peru.

They did manage to perform rather well in Copa America though, grinding out 1-0 wins over Jamaica and Uruguay and then drawing with Mexico to qualify for the knockout stages. Unfortunately for them Argentina were less forgiving and smashed them 4-1.

Uruguay have won eight of their last nine home games and scored 14 home goals in their five home matches since World Cup qualification began. Venezuela have lost 11 of their last 16 on the road and have conceded 11 goals in their four away days in qualification.

Six of Uruguay’s last seven at home have ended with at least three goals scored as well, and considering Venezuela’s very dodgy defence I think odds of 1/1 for a Uruguay Win and Over 2.5 Goals are excellent value. I’m going for a 3-0 correct score prediction at 7/1 as well.