Argentina v Bolivia
Football : Copa America 2011
Friday 1 July 2011 - Kickoff 9:45pm (Local Time)
This game is live on TV

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Preview

The 2011 edition of the Copa America kicks off as the hosts Argentina take on Bolivia and there will be painful memories to remove for the home nation.

The last time these two met was the famous World Cup Qualifier in 2009 when Bolivia hammered Diego Maradona's Argentina 6-1 in La Paz. The problem for Bolivia really exists in the fact that they are a tough nut to crack at home, with a stadium far above sea level, yet struggle mightily on their travels.

Sergio Batista will now get the chance to take charge of Argentina for his first competitive match after playing a number of friendlies since the team were knocked out of the World Cup by Germany.

There is no doubt, in my opinion, that Argentina boast one of the best squads in International football, with their first 11 possibly only being 2nd to Spain in terms of ability alone. Batista has brought a strong squad together for this tournament, one that is perhaps even more significant as it is hosted in Argentina.

Carlos Tevez has been given the nod to start up front in place of Angel Di Maria, although defensively the same concerns remain from South Africa.

Bolivia, unsurprisingly, have already admitted the 6-1 result is one they are unlikely to repeat any time at home against their rivals, let alone coming into Argentina to achieve that result.

They are currently ranked at number 97 in the FIFA World Rankings, although they have to be taken with a pinch of salt after England somehow moved up to Number 4 in the most recent rankings released.

However, Bolivia are considered one of the weakest, if not THE weakest, team in South America at this moment. Most of their squad ply their trade in the domestic League and they will not have the altitude factor that makes them so difficult to beat in La Paz.

Expectations are not at all high in Bolivia for this Copa America, and they are not expected to take further part in the tournament once the Group Stages are completed.

Bolivia had a 0-1-8 record in the World Cup Qualifiers away from home. In the defeats, Bolivia scored just 4 goals while conceding 24.

Head to Head

The two nations have met 6 times in the last 11 years, Argentina winning 4 of those games and Bolivia winning 1.

Argentina have won all 3 home games against Bolivia in that time, scoring 7 goals and not conceding a goal.

Prediction

Argentina are rightly considered the favourites to win this tournament on home soil, but odds of 1.08 are not going to make anybody rich over night from this match.

They have plenty of attacking talent on offer, and so the prices for Over 2.5 goals are also prohibitively short.

However, I did find a price that has appealed to me and that is Argentina to win to nil at a standout price of 1.72 at Ladbrokes.

Bolivia have struggled to score goals away from home in the Qualifiers, and they have not scored in Argentina in the last 3 times they have visited.

I expect Argentina to have a lot of the ball as they look to take the game to their opponents. This will make it even tougher for Bolivia to make an impact on the game and I would be surprised if Argentina fail to make their control count against a team that conceded an average of 3 goals a game in their defeats during the WC Qualifiers.

The win to nil is much shorter in most places, but the Ladbrokes price looks tasty enough.

The Pick :

Argentina 4-0 Bolivia

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Argentina to win to nil @ 1.72 (Ladbrokes)