Brazil looks unstoppable as ever, having coasted to a 3-0 victory in their Copa América opener – their third consecutive win ‘to-nil’. Interestingly, the last two of those wins have seen Brazil score 3+ second-half goals and net exactly three times in one half – doing so at least once beyond the hour mark both times.
The Seleção’s last match also extended their streak of wins after scoring first to three, and in turn, they have now opened the scoring in ten of their 11 matches played since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Their record from those ten games stands at W9, D1, with each win being accompanied by a clean sheet.
Massive outsiders for this South American encounter, Venezuela are expected to lose by a big margin. This expectation is justified by their recent competitive record against CONMEBOL nations that current lie inside the top 20 of FIFA’s current rankings, which stands at W1, D4, L4, going back to June 2016.
That noted, the last three games in that sequence against such opponents yielded draws and under 2.5 match goals. However, each defeat saw Venezuela lose by a margin of multiple goals, lose the first half ‘to-nil’ every time, and lose both halves on three occasions.
Players to watch: Brazil’s last two outings have seen Philippe Coutinho net a penalty in the 15 minutes either side of half-time.
John Murillo has netted for Venezuela in their last two games against opponents in FIFA’s current top-20. Both matches ended 3-1 (W1, L1).
Stat attack: Brazil has won the first half in six of their last eight H2H clashes with Venezuela.
Six of Venezuela’s last eight matches have seen both teams score.
Brazil’s post-millennial competitive H2H record vs Venezuela is: W6, D2, L0.
None of those meetings have seen both teams score before half-time.
Will not play
Costa D.
(Calf Injury)
Gonzalez A.
(Injury)
Danilo
(Injury)
Mago L.
(Yellow Cards)
Fabinho
(Injury)
Otero R.
(Injury)
Marcelo
(Injury)
Penaranda A.
(Injury)
Neymar
(Ankle Injury)
Santos C.
(Injury)
Wilker A.
(Injury)
Questionable
Feltscher R.
(Injury)
Match Information
Referee: Bascunan J. (Chi),
Venue: Arena Fonte Nova (Salvador)
Live streaming here.