Argentina v Ecuador betting tips: Goals could flow for Messi and co
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Preview and odds for the Copa America quarter-final
Argentina are expected to be the main challengers to Copa America favourites Brazil and will hope to prove why here as we pick out some Argentina v Ecuador betting tips.
Ecuador are yet to win a match at this year’s tournament so Argentina will be disappointed if they do not cruise into the semi-finals.
Sunday’s match is live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and kicks off at 2am BST.
Argentina v Ecuador match odds
Argentina improved as the group stage went on and head into the quarter-finals full of confidence.
They had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their opening match against Chile but a 1-0 win against Uruguay put them on track to win Group A which they duly did after beating Paraguay 1-0 and Bolivia 4-1.
Lionel Messi’s brace in the last game meant he was the top scorer in the group stage with three goals while it was his pass that set up Alejandro Gomez for the opener as he overtook Javier Mascherano as Argentina’s most capped player.
Argentina are now unbeaten in 17 matches, having not lost since the semi-finals of the last Copa America, so are 4/9 for victory in 90 minutes here.
Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso said: “We’re in good form going into the quarter-finals. The team knows how it is playing and what it wants to do. We’re getting better and now comes the most beautiful part.”
Ecuador are yet to win a match but three successive draws proved enough to scrape through in fourth place.
To their credit they held Brazil to a 1-1 draw in their final group game, although the defending champions rested several key players.
Ecuador are 16/5 to again be on level terms after 90 minutes and 7/2 to cause an upset but Argentina should dominate.
In terms of Argentina v Ecuador betting tips, Argentina to be leading at both half-time and full-time catches the eye at 5/4 while an Argentina win and over 2.5 goals may be popular at 29/20 following the performance against Bolivia.
Argentina v Ecuador head-to-head
Messi was again the man to make the difference when these teams met in World Cup qualifying in October, although Argentina were unable to build on his 13th-minute penalty and had to settle for a 1-0 win.
Argentina were much more clinical in a friendly 12 months earlier as they eased to a 6-1 win with six different players on target despite the absence of Messi.
It was also 6-1 to the favourites when these teams last met at the Copa America in 2004 and 150/1 is available for history to be repeated!
Previous XI
Ecuador: Galindez, Hincapie, Arboleda, Estupinan, Angelo Preciado, Palacios, Ayrton Preciado, Mendez, Franco, Caicedo, Valencia.
Key battles
Messi will be the talisman for Argentina as ever and whether Ecuador have the experience to deal with him is questionable.
The Barcelona man is in fine form and 2/1 for him to score more goals than the opposition looks a good shout for Argentina v Ecuador betting tips.
The attention on Messi could free up space for his new Barca team-mate Sergio Aguero and the former Manchester City man is 7/2 to open the scoring.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
