Venezuela vs Ecuador
South America’s flagship tournament is just around the corner and two of the outside bets are about to come face to face as they prepare to do battle on the big stage.
The Friendly Match Venezuela vs Ecuador gives two of the lesser lights of South American football a chance to make last minute preparations, and the coaches to run the rule over their key players. Neither team is a pushover, but Venezuela sits a full 30 places above Ecuador in the FIFA rankings, in 29th place compared to their opponent’s 59th position.
The Venezuela vs Ecuador betting odds don’t point to a home win for Rafael Dudamel’s team, but this is an opportunity for La Vinotinto to enter the Copa America with some momentum. But, before we make a choice on the outcome, let’s take a closer look at the two sides.
Talking Points
Tough group for La Vinotinto
Venezuela s in the same group as Brazil in the Copa America, and starts its campaign against Peru; so it could hardly be a more difficult task for Dudamel to take his team through to the latter stages.
La Vinotinto came across Peru in the early stages of their lives on the world football stage, participating in the World Cup qualifiers in 1966 when they were pitched against Peru and Uruguay, but they failed to register a single point. In fact they didn’t get a World Cup qualifier win until 1982 when they beat Bolivia; but the highlight of Venezuela’s history came in a 1998 match against Argentina, when goalkeeper Dudamel scored in a 5-2 defeat.
Back to the present, much of La Vinotinto’s hopes rest on Newcastle United striker Salomon Rondon, he’s been their main man for the last decade, scoring 22 goals, and he hit 11 for the Magpies in a successful Premier League survival campaign. Rondon is a much sought after striker, outside the top six, in English football and he will give the tough Ecuador defence a serious run around.
25-year old attacking midfielder Juanpi plies his trade at Huesca, so has come across some of the best players in the world in La Liga, including Copa America’s biggest name, Lionel Messi.
And Dudamel has Serie A pedigree to call on in the form of Torino’s Tomas Rincon; the former Juventus player has been capped 89 times and is likely to skipper the home side.
Ecuador’s Premier League quality
The visitors have two Valencias in their ranks, one of which is their most famous and successful player of the past decade. Antonio Valencia’s ten year career at Manchester United has finally come to an end after a poor season for the Red Devils. But he has seen far better times at Old Trafford, scoring 25 goals in 339 appearances, winning Premier League titles and latterly captaining the famous club.
Colombian born head coach Hernon Gomez also has a potent attacking threat in the form of Enner Valencia who has a one goal in two games record for Ecuador. The former West Ham hit man has scored 27 goals in 46 appearances for Gomez’ team and represents the visitors’ best chance of a goal.
Ecuador has a really difficult start to the Copa America against Uruguay, but can be thankful that Barcelona’s Luis Suarez may not be fit to start having undergone a knee operation. And the visitors have a rather more impressive record on the world football stage than their hosts, qualifying for the finals in 2002, 2006 and 2014, reaching the Round of 16 in 2006, only to be beaten by England.
History
Ecuador comes into the match having won two drawn two and lost two of the last six games, while Venezuela has won three drawn two and lost one, including a 1-3 win over Argentina.
The last time these two teams met the spoils were shared in a 1-1 draw back in 2017 and the head-to-head Venezuela vs Ecuador results favour the visitors, Ecuador winning nine of the meetings to Venezuela’s five with two matches ending in a draw.
Betting Tip
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Venezuela vs Ecuador | Venezuela Asian Handicap +0.25 @ 2.00 |
| June 02, 09:00 (GMT+8) |
Venezuela, spearheaded by Rondon, may not find it easy to breach the Ecuador defence but I think, with home advantage, they might, and then it’s a case of whether they can keep Enner Valencia at bay.
The SBOBET odds of Venezuela at 3.20 and Ecuador at 2.20, with the draw at 3.20, point to a tight game; and for an alternative bet, under 2.25 goals at 1.88 could represent good value; with a 1-1 draw at 5.40 a likely outcome.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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