Copa America quarter-finals: Rampant hosts Chile contest Uruguay
Chile continue their quest to become the first Copa America hosts since Colombia in 2001 to lift the prestigious international trophy, and their toughest test so far will undoubtedly come in the form of Uruguay in this mouth-watering quarter-final encounter.
Jorge Sampaoli’s host nation will attempt to claim their first ever Copa America coup, but will need to overcome Uruguay first, who boast the most wins in the coveted tournament, with their most recent coming in 2011.
Chile are 4/1 with Coral to secure a quarter-final victory with both teams getting on the scoresheet and, with a semi-final clash against either Peru or Bolivia beckoning for the winner, the hosts will be desperate to overcome Oscar Tabarez’s La Celeste.
Having scored the most goals so far in the biggest continental tournament on South American soil, Chile will look to continue that rampant form, and have the ferocious firepower capable of doing so, as they target a maiden Copa America triumph after four previous heart-breaking final defeats.
Despite recently crashing his Ferrari after a group stage fixture, Arturo Vidal received no suspension for the incident, a huge boost to the Chileans as he leads the scoring charts in this year’s competition with three strikes. The Juventus midfield maestro is 7/4 to net again anytime in 90 minutes.
A huge blow for Uruguay, though, could be the possible absence of PSG forward Edinson Cavani, with Tabarez confirming the key attacking threat could miss out after it emerged his father was involved in a fatal car crash and has now been detained by the police. Cavani is 2/1 to score anytime if he is fit to feature.
Arsenal attacker and recent FA Cup winner Alexis Sanchez will be aiming for silverware success with his country after doing so with the Gunners last season. The clinical Chilean, who has struck on three previous occasions in this fixture, is 3/1 to score and guide his nation to victory over Uruguay within normal time.
Uruguay qualified for the knock-out stage as the best third-placed team, having finished behind both reigning champions Argentina and Paraguay in Group B, and they will need their other attacking stars to be in form.
That could see the goalscoring burden fall upon Hull City striker Abel Hernandez, who is 11/4 to strike anytime this time out.
After notching up 10 goals in the competition, more than twice the total of any other team, Chile are seeking to progress to another semi-final appearance, as they impressively rally towards a historic Copa America coup.
