Colombia v Uruguay Betting Tips & Preview – Pekerman Seeks QF Berth

Colombia v Uruguay

With a place in the World Cup quarter-finals at stake, two South American rivals meet at Brazil’s world-famous Maracana stadium in Rio de Janerio.

Currently managed by Jose Pekerman, Colombia (21/20, Coral), opened their 2014 World Cup campaign up in style as goals from Pablo Armero, Teofilo Gutierrez and the sublimely-gifted James Rodriguez (12/5 Anytime, BetVictor) saw Greece defeated 3-0.

After a goalless first half against Ivory Coast, Pekerman’s boys then went on to defeat the Africans 2-1, with the aforementioned James Rodriguez again amongst the scorers.

Colombia’s third game of the tournament saw them defeat Japan 4-1 in an entertaining contest. Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado (9/2 Anytime, Bet365) opened the scoring via a first half penalty, before Porto’s Jackson Martinez (2/1 Anytime, Bet365) added a brace. Of course, James Rodriguez also scored to conclude the rout.

So, after winning all three of their group stage games, Colombia finished atop Group C with nine points. Their top scorer, and probably your best bet if you want an anytime scorer, was James (pronounced ‘Hamez’) Rodriguez.

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Goals wise, Colombia scored nine in three games, conceding just twice. Quite honestly, they were more productive than I thought they’d be without Falcao, with every game passing the over 2.5 goals mark.

Best priced at 13/10 with BetVictor, the ever-popular over 2.5 goals might be a bit too risky when Colombia play Uruguay, however, as knock-out rounds, particularly between rivals, tend to be tentative affairs with low goal counts.

Oscar Tabarez’ Uruguay (16/5, Bet365), of course, will have to make do without serial-biter Luis Suarez against Colombia – and even if the Liverpool forward did play, I could envisage Uruguay playing defensively and trying to snare a 1-0 win.

So, I’d say under 2.5 goals at 4/6 with Ladbrokes rather than over this time, but prior to their 1-0 defeat of the Azzurri, Uruguay were involved in two games that contained three goals or more.

Firstly, with Edinson Cavani (11/4 Anytime, Paddy Power) opening the scoring, Uruguay were beaten 3-1 by Costa Rica. Whilst it’s fair to say that Uruguay looked disjointed in this game, I think that Costa Rica were just better than most punters thought.

In game two, Uruguay – with both goals coming from Luis Suarez – defeated an England side that had been backed into an odds-on price by deluded, patriotic punters 2-1.

As mentioned above, Uruguay then defeated Italy 1-0 in a game they had to win to progress. It was unfortunate that this game wasn’t on my writing agenda as I backed their goalscorer, centre-back Diego Godin, to score Anytime at 14/1.

I only had a few quid, but Mr Godin is again worth a small punt at the same 14/1 price with Bet365 as he scores most of his goals from set pieces – indeed nearly all of them are headed in from a corner – and scores in tight, key games, like Atletico Madrid’s final game of the season against Barcelona and their Champions League final with Real Madrid.

Head-to-head, for what it counts, and only looking at their last two meetings, Uruguay defeated Colombia 2-0 in Montevideo, while Colombia beat Uruguay 4-0 in the reverse fixture.

In conclusion, on neutral ground and on current form, Colombia should defeat a Uruguay side without its best attacker, and I’m going to make the obvious choice and recommend them to do so, but I would also suggest a smaller bet on Godin Anytime in a game of this importance.

Recommendation: Colombia (21/20, Coral)

Worth a small punt: Godin Anytime (14/1, Bet 365)