Argentina will look to continue their unbeaten start to the World Cup Qualifying campaign on Tuesday, when they travel to take on Colombia.
The visitors were forced to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw with Chile last time out, while Colombia recorded their second win of the qualifiers as defeated Peru 3-0 away from home.
Match preview
© Reuters
In their last outing on Friday, Colombia travelled to Lima to take on Peru in the fifth game of their qualifying campaign.
Yerry Mina opened the scoring on the stroke of half time, and goals from Porto duo Mateus Uribe and Luis Diaz early in the second half put the game out of sight.
That broke a three-game winless run in the qualifying group for Reinaldo Rueda's men, most recently falling to a disappointing 6-1 defeat at the hands of Ecuador.
Robert Arboleda, Angel Mena, Michael Estrada and Xavier Arreaga all found the net for the hosts before James Rodriguez's consolation goal on the stroke of half time, and late goals from Gonzalo Plata and Pervis Estupinan capped off a poor outing last November.
As a result of their disappointing start to the qualifiers, Colombia find themselves in sixth spot in the group, although they could quickly move up as they sit level on points with fourth-placed Paraguay and fifth-placed Uruguay.
Rueda's side will aim to build on their recent victory, as they look to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup next year, having dropped out in the round of 16 in 2018 after a defeat in a penalty shootout to England.
They take on an Argentina side who are yet to suffer a defeat in this round of qualifying, most recently drawing 1-1 with Chile at home.
© Reuters
Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 24th minute, but Alexis Sanchez quickly equalised and La Albiceleste were unable to retake the lead.
In the opening round of qualifying games last year, Argentina picked up 10 points from four matches, finishing with a 2-0 win over Peru.
They now sit second in the group with 11 points from five games, only trailing a Brazil side who have had a perfect start.
After falling to Germany in the final of the 2014 World Cup, La Albiceleste had a disappointing campaign in 2018, as they dropped out of the World Cup in the round of 16 with a 4-3 defeat to eventual winners France.
Lionel Scaloni's men will now look to extend their strong start to qualifying, as they aim to book their place in next year's tournament and improve on their underwhelming 2018 showing.
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Colombia come into this game without right-back Daniel Munoz, who will serve a suspension after he was sent off in the recent victory over Peru.
Meanwhile, talisman James Rodriguez has been unable to make the squad for this round of international fixtures through injury, leaving Juan Cuadrado, Mateus Uribe, Gustavo Cuellar and Luis Diaz to play across the midfield.
The line should be led by Atalanta duo Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata, with the pair hitting a combined 37 goals and 19 assists in the Italian top flight this season.
Tottenham Hotspur defender Davinson Sanchez should partner up with Everton's Yerry Mina at the heart of the back four, protecting experienced goalkeeper David Ospina.
Argentina will be led by captain Lionel Messi, who took his tally to 72 senior international goals with a penalty last time out.
Barcelona's new forward Sergio Aguero has rejoined the squad after he was absent from the Chile game, and he is expected to partner his new teammate Messi at the top of the pitch.
Angel Di Maria and Lautaro Martinez also offer plenty of threat going forward, while Atletico Madrid's Angel Correa will also be pushing for a spot in the front four.
The pairing of Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes should bring plenty of quality to their midfield, with Paredes having had a strong campaign for Paris Saint-Germain while De Paul has caught eyes with a standout season for Udinese.
Benfica centre-back Nicolas Otamendi should return to the back line, having served a suspension last time out.
Colombia possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Medina, Mina, Sanchez, Tesillo; Cuadrado, Cuellar, Uribe, Diaz; Muriel, Zapata
Argentina possible starting lineup:
E Martinez; Foyth, Otamendi, Martinez Quarta, Tagliafico; Martinez, De Paul, Paredes, Di Maria; Messi, Aguero
We say: Colombia 1-2 Argentina
Despite Colombia's slow start to the qualifying campaign, the two sides both remain among the favourites to advance out of the group, and we expect this to be a close encounter with Argentina just having the edge.
Their assortment of attacking quality should get Scaloni's side over the line, as they look to all but confirm their place in next year's tournament in Qatar.
Top tip
Sam Varley
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Argentina win with a probability of 52.12%. A win for Colombia had a probability of 24.12% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for an Argentina win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.71%) and 0-2 (8.83%). The likeliest Colombia win was 1-0 (6.49%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.23%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood.
Argentina
Uruguay
Ecuador
Colombia
Brazil
Paraguay
Bolivia
Venezuela
Chile
Peru
