Two South American nations who will not be competing at the 2022 World Cup face off in a friendly fixture on Sunday as Peru welcome Bolivia to the Estadio Monumental "U" in Lima.
While the hosts currently sit 23rd in the FIFA world rankings, the visitors sit 59 places further back after slipping down to 82nd in the standings.
Match preview
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After competing at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Peru narrowly missed out on qualifying for this year's tournament in Qatar, losing out 5-4 on penalties to Australia in an inter-confederation playoff.
Head coach Ricardo Gareca decided to step down from his post after the defeat, with Juan Reynoso appointed as his successor in August.
The former Cruz Azul boss began his reign with a slender 1-0 friendly defeat away against Mexico in September, before his Peru side secured a 4-1 victory against El Salvador, with Gianluca Lapadula, Bryan Reyna and Christian Cueva all on the scoresheet.
Peru's most recent outing came against Paraguay on Thursday, with Alex Valera heading home the only goal of the game to seal a 1-0 win, before Alexander Succar and Fabian Balbuena were both sent off following an altercation in the closing stages.
Reynoso will be keen to see his side conclude 2022 with a third successive victory and they will be confident of success on Sunday as they have won five of their last six meetings against Bolivia.
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Like Peru, Bolivia also changed their manager over the summer following an underwhelming CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying campaign which saw them finish ninth out of 10 South American nations.
Under Cesar Farias, La Verde ended the campaign with four consecutive defeats between January and March, scoring just three goals and conceding 14 in the process.
Gustavo Costas has since taken the reins, but his first game in charge ended in defeat, with Bolivia losing 2-0 to Senegal in their most recent fixture during the September international break, courtesy of strikes from Sadio Mane and Boulaye Dia.
Bolivia now head into Sunday's fixture hoping to end 2022 just as they started it, which saw them cruise to a 5-0 victory against Trinidad and Tobago in January. Success by a similar scoreline against Peru is seemingly a tall order, though.
Team News
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Peru will be without suspended striker Alexander Succar following his dismissal against Paraguay last time out, with Alex Valera expected to keep his place up front.
Reynoso could decide to recall 95-cap midfielder Christian Cueva at the expense of Christofer Gonzales, while uncapped quartet Paolo Reyna, Roberto Villamarin, Yuriel Celi and Piero Quispe will all be hoping to make their first international appearance either from the start or off the bench.
As for Bolivia, experienced goalkeeper Carlos Lampe has withdrawn from the squad due to personal reasons, while Jaume Cuellar has decided to return to Spanish club Lugo ahead of their upcoming fixtures in the second tier.
Guillermo Viscarra, Ruben Cordano and Jairo Cuellar will all be battling to start between the sticks in Lampe's absence, while forward Marcelo Moreno – who was the top scorer in CONMEBOL qualifying with 10 strikes – is expected to lead the line.
Peru possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Araujo, Callens, Abram, Lopez; Cartagena, Aquino; Rivera, Cueva, Reyna; Valera
Bolivia possible starting lineup:
J. Cuellar; Quinteros, Jusino, Haquin, Sagredo; Vaca, Villarroel, Justiniano; Vaca, Moreno, Ramallo
We say: Peru 2-1 Bolivia
Peru will be regarded as favourites following their victory over Paraguay last time out and considering Bolivia's poor run of form.
Both sides possess quality to cause problems in the final third, but we can see La Blanquirroja edging past La Verde on home soil to end the year on a high.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
