Chile vs Bolivia: Match Preview and Prediction

Arun Aravindan 

Chile and Bolivia look for a win when they meet in their second fixture on Friday evening at the Gillette Stadium, Foxborough in Massachusetts.

The La Roja were beaten 2-1 by Argentina in the opening fixture on Monday, recording a straight defeat. The score would have been much wider if the Messi-less Argentina were sharper in finishing. Things are not looking good under Juan Antonio Pizzi and the 2015 Copa America Champions are in desperate need for all three points. Chile’s recent form is terrible as they managed just one win from their last 7, including 1 draw and 5 defeats.

Bolivia were beaten by Panama 2-1 in a highly entertaining football match at Orlando. The match looked to end in all square, but Blas Perez hit his second of the night just 3 minutes from full time to hand Panama a deserving win. Bolivia are on a poor run of form and had now lost 5 matches in a row. Also they had lost 10 of their last 11 matches.

Chile vs Bolivia: Predicted Line-ups

Chile (4-2-3-1): Bravo – Mena, Jara, Medel, Isla – Vidal, Diaz – Beausejour, Sanchez, Aranguiz – Vargas.

Bolivia (4-5-1): Lampe – M. Bejarano, Cabrera, Zenteno, Eguino, D. Bejarano – Arce, Azogue, Saucedo, Smedberg – Duk.

Chile vs Bolivia: Head-to-Head Stats

Out of the 11 matches played between the two since 1995, Chile had lost just once, while winning 7 and drawing 3. The goal aggregate is 27 to 9 in favor of Chile.

Chile beat Bolivia 5-0 in the quarter finals of last year’s Copa America by 5-0. Their previous meeting in Copa America was during the 1995 edition, 2-2 at full time.

Chile had won in 7 of the last 8 meetings against Bolivia.

Chile vs Bolivia: Prediction

Chile are definitely in a poor run of form and things have not gone as planned under their new coach Juan Antonio Pizzi. There is a serious problem with their finishing despite them scoring in each of their last five matches, out of which four were defeats. But their problem is the vulnerability in dealing with opposition counter attacks, which was evident in defeats against Argentina, Mexico and Jamaica.

Bolivia are one of the worst runs in their history after losing in 10 of their last 11 matches. They have scored just once in the last three and their struggle is expected to continue throughout the tournament. If Bolivia are to steal at least a point from this encounter, they must improve in all areas of play, which is very unlikely.

For Chile, if there is any better opportunity to get back on winning track and this is against a Bolivia team. If they get an early goal, flood gates are expected to open in Bolivian goal, which may result in a big win for Chile. And I expect this to happen and a victory by three goal margin for Chile is my prediction.