Colombia v Argentina betting tips: Form guide points to Argentina
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Preview and odds for Wednesday’s semi-final
Brazil are through to the Copa America final and now we pick out Colombia v Argentina betting tips ahead of the second semi-final at the Estádio Nacional de Brasília in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Argentina seek to match Uruguay’s record of 15 Copa America titles and a first since 1993, having lost each of the four subsequent finals they have contested, while Colombia last took the title in 2001.
Wednesday’s match is live on BBC iPlayer and kicks off at 2am.
Colombia v Argentina match odds
Argentina are the clear favourites to meet rivals Brazil in Saturday’s final at the Maracana Stadium.
Unbeaten in 18 matches, Argentina’s campaign got off to an inauspicious start when labouring to a 1-1 draw with Chile, but Lionel Scaloni’s men have gradually warmed to the task.
Single-goal successes over Uruguay and Paraguay were followed by a 4-1 thumping of Bolivia, which cemented their place at the top of the group.
Inspired by Lionel Messi, La Albiceleste cruised to a 3-0 quarter-final win over Ecuador with the Barcelona star netting from a free-kick and setting up Rodrigo De Paul and Lautaro Martinez to complete the rout. Messi now has four goals and four assists in the five Copa America games.
Having conceded just twice in their five Copa America outings, Argentina are 4/5 to win in 90 minutes and 4/11 to progress to the final.
Colombia were heavily fancied coming into the tournament, but underwhelmed in the group phase. After an opening 1-0 win over Ecuador, they drew 0-0 with Venezuela and finished third in their group following 2-1 defeats at the hands of Peru and Brazil.
Their lack of goals has been surprising and Reinaldo Rueda’s side had goalkeeper David Ospina to thank for saving two penalties in a shootout to overcome Uruguay, following a goalless quarter-final.
Colombia, who have drawn two and won one of the last three against Argentina, are 17/4 to win in 90 minutes, and are 2/1 to progress to the final.
Seven of the last 10 meetings have yielded fewer than three total goals and six of the last 10 saw fewer than two goals scored.
Given Colombia’s recent lack of goals, under 2.5 goals can be added to Colombia v Argentina betting tips at 8/15, while at least one team failing to score is available at 8/13.
Colombia v Argentina head-to-head
The teams have faced each other 40 times across all competitions since 1945, with Argentina recording 23 wins.
Colombia have beaten La Albiceleste on nine occasions, the last of those a 2-0 success in the opening game of the 2019 Copa America group phase.
Their last clash, a World Cup qualifier on June 8, resulted in a 2-2 draw, with Colombia coming from 2-0 down inside eight minutes to square it.
Eight of their previous 40 meetings have resulted in draws. It is 12/5 that this clash ends in a draw after 90 minutes and 18/1 for another 2-2 draw.
Previous XI
Colombia: Ospina, Tesillo, D Sánchez, Mina, Muñoz, Díaz, Cuéllar, Barrios, Borré, Zapata, Muriel.
Argentina: Martínez, Acuña, Otamendi, Pezzella, Molina, Lo Celso, Paredes, de Paul, González, Martínez, Messi.
Team news
Argentina could be without Atalanta centre-back Cristian Romero, who is nursing an injury. Barcelona’s Sergio Aguero, Paris Saint-Germain’s Angel Di Maria and Ajax’s Nicolas Tagliafico, who were all on the bench against Ecuador, could be involved.
Everton’s James Rodriguez was controversially left out of the Colombia squad, and Rueda now has a headache with Porto midfielder Mateus Uribe and Pachuca midfielder Yairo Moreno both out injured.
Key battles
Colombia’s lack of goals stems from a lack of creativity in midfield and their suspect depth in that area means they could find themselves over-run, particularly as the game wears on.
Messi scored his 76th goal for Argentina in the quarter-final and is now one shy of Pelé’s record for the most goals by an international South American player. Colombia will do well to shackle Messi, who is 13/10 to score at any time and 14/5 to score the first goal.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
