Brazil meets Venezuela in round 2 of Copa America. The match will be played on Wednesday, June19th at Arena Fonte Nova (Salvador)
Bookmakers consider Brazil the clearest favorite of the current Copa America (the coefficient for its victory is about 2.5), and I believe that the very fact of Brazil’s favoritism is justified, but such a coefficient is not fully understood. I will explain why (if they let me write a prediction) later, but for now, let's talk about the last match of the Brazilians: in the opening match, they beat the Bolivian national team (3-0). Although the Brazilians failed to score in the first half, the match turned out for them, as they say, a pleasure: 24 shots on the opponent’s goal, a victory in terms of possession (74% -26%), and add on 24 clearances carried out by the Bolivian national team in this match. Brazil has a fairly balanced squad - Alisson is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and the defense is also not bad. Playmaker Fernandinho and classic representative of this position, Casemiro, complement each other well in the pivot zone. Fairly lightweight and scoring Richarlison and Neres play in the flanks of the midfield. Coutinho is in the center, and his flaws hide very well in this position, and Roberto Firmino, who plays very consistently both in the national team and at the club level, is the main attacking force of Brazil. I think the current resources of Brazil may be enough to easily cope with the middle-class teams.
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Many people literally bombed me with comments on the topic that Venezuela was closer to victory in the match with Peru. I agree that teams, which play more pragmatic football at the national team level, often succeed in the results; these teams often do not even have a style in a strict sense (Portugal in the Nations League is a clear confirmation of this). This fact may play for Venezuela, but the game of Peru looks more impressive, and I gave my preferences to the Peruvians in that match. It will be even more difficult for Venezuela in the match with Brazil than with the Peruvians: the Brazilians have a balanced squad, which consists of fairly intelligent players. They have an excellent coach and play at home in the end. If we talk about Venezuela in a bit more detail, let's return to the already-legendary match against the US team: Venezuelans scored all the goals from the 16th to the 36th minutes. In the victorious matches, you can often notice that Venezuela scores in about half an hour segment, and the team likes to do it first. It is hard for the Venezuelans to win back, but to do it against them is also not an easy thing. If Venezuela scores first, even the strongest contender can lose.
Nevertheless, Brazil is clearly stronger than the troubled United States or unbalanced Argentina. Not to say that the team is much superior to Venezuela in the quality of the gaming thought, but in term of the squad – in spades. I think that the Brazilians will win this match without any problems, and they will do it scoring more than one ball, because the style and the depth of the current lineup allows it.
Prediction for the match: Brazil to win with -2.0 handicap
