Preview:Uruguay vs Peru - prediction, team news, lineups

It is last-chance saloon for Peru when they travel to Montevideo to face Uruguay on the penultimate matchday of World Cup qualifying this Thursday.

The visitors know they must win both of their final two qualifiers to have any chance of taking a playoff spot, while Uruguay are on the cusp of reaching a fifth straight World Cup.

Match preview

A hugely important victory over Venezuela on matchday 16 has all but confirmed Uruguay’s spot at next summer’s World Cup, after an abysmal run put their hopes of a top-six finish in doubt.

Since the Copa America, Marcelo Bielsa’s men have fallen off a cliff results-wise, as they headed into the Venezuela match without a win in four games.

Losing that crucial encounter would have seen them start this matchday level on points with La Vinotinto, but instead, the gap to seventh is now six points, and a much more favourable goal difference means it is unthinkable to see a scenario where they will not get over the line.

Form is still a worry though, because Uruguay have only scored in three of their 10 qualifiers since the Copa America, needing to fall back on the form they showed earlier in the campaign, almost two years ago.

This is a favourable fixture for La Celeste though, and if other results go their way, they could find themselves second heading into the final matchday next week.

For Peru, their race is almost run, and anything but a win here and at home to Paraguay next week will see them eliminated.

Six points may not be enough either, because manager Oscar Ibanez needs Bolivia and Venezuela to lose both of their last two games too in order for them to leapfrog the two of them.

Given that Peru have failed to score in any of their eight away matches in qualifying so far, that appears hugely improbable at this stage.

A blunt attack was on show again in June’s fixtures, because despite knowing they had to get a win from somewhere to improve their chances of taking it down to the wire, they drew both matches 0-0 - against Colombia and Ecuador.

It is now very likely that Peru will miss a second straight World Cup, after reaching the 2018 edition in Russia, but they have done so with a whimper this time around, after at least reaching the playoff for 2022.

Uruguay World Cup Qualifying - South America form:

Peru World Cup Qualifying - South America form:

Team News

Uruguay will have Federico Valverde and Darwin Nunez back in their side for the two games this month, after both missed the June matches.

There are two notable absentees for the hosts though, as they will be without experienced defender Jose Gimenez and wide man Maximilian Araujo for both fixtures this month due to injury.

Sergio Rochet is back in the Uruguay squad after missing the last two camps with injury, but his spot in the side is not guaranteed after Santiago Mele kept a clean sheet against Venezuela.

There is very little attacking experience in the Peru side which has struggled for goals all through qualifying, as 128-cap Yoshimar Yotun is the squad’s top scorer with just eight.

That is down largely to the absences of both Paolo Guerrero and Gianluca Lapadula up front, while pacy winger Andre Carrillo is also missing from the side this time around.

After naming his squad, Ibanez has had to deal with another two absentees, as Edison Flores and Alex Valera have both withdrawn with injury.

Uruguay possible starting lineup:

Mele; Nandez, R Araujo, Bueno, Olivera; Bentancur, Ugarte, Valverde; Pellistri, Nunez, De Arrascaeta

Peru possible starting lineup:

Gallese; Advincula, Zambrano, Garces, Lopez; Polo, Yotun, Tapia, Noriega; Ramos, Quevedo

We say: Uruguay 1-0 Peru

Uruguay’s form over the past 12 months has been utterly woeful, but they turned up when it mattered last time out against Venezuela, and that has put them in a comfortable position to play with minimal pressure, with qualification now 99.9% confirmed.

Peru have won just two games in 16 across qualifying, and even though one of them did come in the reverse against Uruguay, the must-need win they desire looks unlikely.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.