Uruguay will look to get their World Cup Qualifying campaign back on track on Monday, when they play host to Bolivia.
The hosts were held to a somewhat disappointing draw by Peru last time out, while Bolivia earned an impressive point against Colombia.
Match preview
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Coming in as one of the favourites to reach the 2022 World Cup, Uruguay began the qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Chile in 2020, before bouncing back from a defeat to Ecuador with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Colombia to move onto six points from their opening three outings.
That was followed by a relatively disappointing run of form, as Oscar Tabarez's men suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Brazil and were held to goalless draws by Paraguay and Venezuela heading into the summer's Copa America.
Their somewhat underwhelming form continued in the continental competition, as they began with a 1-0 defeat to Argentina and a 1-1 draw with Chile, before collecting consecutive victories over Bolivia and Paraguay to progress to the knockout stage in second place.
That saw them meet Colombia in the quarter-finals, and after a goalless draw, La Celeste were beaten in a penalty shootout.
For the first time since that exit, Tabarez's men returned to action on Friday in World Cup Qualifying action, and their disappointing form continued as they had to settle for a draw against Peru, with Giorgian De Arrascaeta immediately drawing them level after Renato Tapia's 24th-minute opener for their opponents.
With just two victories from their seven games so far, La Celeste will know they have far more to do if they are to avoid missing out on the World Cup, and they will be keen to get back to winning ways, although they take on a resilient Bolivia outfit.
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La Verde had a poor start to the World Cup Qualifiers, losing their opening three games to Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador in 2020 to immediately sink to the foot of the table.
They then bounced back to earn a point against Paraguay and defeat Venezuela 3-1, before earning another creditable point in a 1-1 draw away against Chile in their final game before the Copa America.
The continental competition did not go to plan for Cesar Farias's men, as they dropped out of the group stage without earning a point, but they bounced back last time out with another impressive draw to boost their World Cup bid.
La Verde took on Colombia in the latest World Cup Qualifying game on Thursday, but looked set to fall to a defeat when Roger Martinez put the visitors ahead with 20 minutes to go, only for Fernando Saucedo to draw them level and earn a valuable point in the final 10 minutes.
That saw them move level on points with seventh-placed Chile and one point behind sixth-placed Paraguay in the group, meaning they still have a strong chance of reaching the global tournament for the first time since the turn of the year if they can continue their impressive run of form in qualifying.
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Team News
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Uruguay come into this round of fixtures without their two key forwards, as Atletico Madrid's Luis Suarez and Manchester United's Edinson Cavani, the nation's first and second all-time top scorers respectively, are both not involved in the squad.
In their absence, Maxi Gomez should again lead the line, while Giorgian de Arrascaeta offers vital threat from the wide areas, as he got on the scoresheet last time out.
Further back, the crop of players is more familiar, as former Atletico Madrid teammates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez should continue to partner up at the heart of the defence, with a combined tally of over 210 international appearances between the pair.
Tabarez has an impressive collection of midfielders at his disposal, with Juventus' Rodrigo Bentancur and Real Madrid prospect Federico Valverde both set to play key roles.
The Bolivian line will be led by experienced forward Marcelo Moreno, who has netted 25 goals for his nation at the age of 34.
Captain Juan Carlos Arce will also play a key role in the attack, while Erwin Saavedra offers quality in midfield.
They will be without attacker Carmelo Algaranaz, who was sent off last time out after coming off the bench, and will serve a suspension as a result.
Uruguay possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Nandez, Gimenez, Godin, Vina; Bentancur, Vecino, Valverde; De Arrascaeta, Gomez, Rodriguez
Bolivia possible starting lineup:
Lampe; Bejarano, Haquin, Jusino, Fernandez; Saavedra, Villarroel; Chura, Arce, Ramallo; Moreno
We say: Uruguay 2-1 Bolivia
While Uruguay have failed to impress so far, and Bolivia have been noticeably difficult to defeat, we see La Celeste having enough to get over the line on Monday, especially on home turf.
Even without Suarez and Cavani, Tabarez's squad is loaded with talent, and they should come together to see out an important victory in order to become more comfortable in the group.
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 Uruguay win with a probability of 72.89%. A draw had a probability of 17.2% and a win for Bolivia had a probability of 9.88%.
The most likely scoreline for a Uruguay win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.3%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.77%) and 3-0 (10.01%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.18%), while for a Bolivia win it was 0-1 (3.62%). The actual scoreline of 4-2 was predicted with a 1.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Uruguay would win this match.
Argentina
Uruguay
Colombia
Ecuador
Venezuela
Brazil
Paraguay
Chile
Bolivia
Peru
