2021 Copa America – Colombia vs Venezuela Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Colombia vs Venezuela taking place? Thursday 17th June, 2021 – 22:00 (UK)
Where is Colombia vs Venezuela taking place? Estádio Olímpico Pedro Ludovico Teixeira, Goiânia
Where can I get tickets for Colombia vs Venezuela? Visit the official Copa America website for the latest ticket information
What television channel is Colombia vs Venezuela on in the UK? BBC Red Button
Where can I stream Colombia vs Venezuela in the UK? This match can be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website
THE TEAM NEWS
COLOMBIA
- Colombia come into this on the back of their opening match victory against Ecuador in an even contest decided by a wonderful set-piece routine finished off by Edwin Cardona.
- They compensated for the absence of James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao by playing a flat 4-4-2 in which Juan Cuadrado led the outfield players in terms of tactical ideas. The aggression and durability of Wilmar Barrios and Mateus Uribe would likely suggest it’ll remain unchanged.
- Both Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel were left on the bench alongside Alfredo Morelos and Colombia’s key weakness was perhaps a failure to regularly break Ecuador down so one of those three players could come in.
VENEZUELA
- Venezuela’s 3-0 loss to Brazil was a difficult opening night but was overshadowed and potentially the result of the COVID-affected preparation and lineup.
- The Venezuelans have had to select 15 new players after eight of the original squad tested positive. One of those includes the captain and key player Tomas Rincon who has been forced to withdraw from the tournament.
- The lack of experience and preparation means that it is unlikely Venezuela will be able to play with any cohesion of tactical play.
THE PREDICTION
Despite Colombia’s inability to regularly and consistently create against Ecuador, they were perhaps even the worse of the two sides, they will still come into this as the fairly comfortable favourites. It won’t necessarily be high-scoring as Venezuela’s thrown together squad will attempt to keep it tight but Colombia will expect to make it two wins from the next two matches.
