While the big boys in Group D Colombia and Brazil will be battling it out, Costa Rica and Paraguay will meet in a game with less perceived flair and attention. But this is not a game devoid of any meaning for Costa Rica, who still have some slender hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals.
Costa Rica Team News
Gustavo Alfaro’s team will have to look for a positive result against an already-eliminated Paraguay outfit who will have nothing more bar pride to play for. But Costa Rica still cling to some semblance of hope for a Copa America quarter-final. A place in the next phase will require something more from this team, however, as scoring goals is not exactly their strong suit. Costa Rica has not scored a single goal in the tournament so far and looking further back we can see that they haven’t been able to score in 5 of their last 6 Copa America fixtures. And a win with a larger margin will be required here, lest Colombia manage to beat Brazil silly.
Paraguay Team News
With no hope to progress any further, Paraguay will head into their last Copa America game with nothing left to play but their pride. Two losses in 2 games meant that they were the second team after Jamaica to be eliminated from the tournament. Unlike Costa Rica, Paraguay at least managed to score 2 goals in their games thus far, even if they conceded a whopping 6 in the process. Still, this is an upgrade over their goal-scoring record during their preparations, where the team failed to find the net against Chile, and Peru before the Copa America and against Colombia before that.
Head-to-Head-Games
Head-to-head statistics between Costa Rica and Paraguay are perfectly split – 2 wins for either team and 2 draws. Goals are not a common occurrence, however, as the most recent 2 matches between these two ended in 0-0 draws. Mind you, these games were held back in 2015 and 2016.
Costa Rica – Paraguay Betting Prediction
I don’t expect to see much scoring here. Costa Rica is not one for goals, and neither is Paraguay, although they seem to be marginally better. For Costa Rica, there is some point to this game and they will have to look for a win here and with some margin to boot. I honestly don’t see that happening and think that we will see more of the usual in the head-to-head between them and Paraguay – low-scoring games. With that in mind, my pick here is for under 2.5 goals.
Betting Tip: Under 2.5 Goals
Bookmaker: Sportsbet.io
Odds: 1.68
Sportsbet.io
Place your bet on Costa Rica – Paraguay at Sportsbet.io