COPA AMERICA BETTING PREVIEW - COLOMBIA VS PANAMA

Copa America

2024-07-06 - Colombia vs Panama

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Colombia v Panama
Football: Copa America 2024 Quarter Final
Saturday 6th July 2024 - Kick Off 3pm
British Time: 11pm

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Colombia

They were the best team in Group D and there may only be a slight bit of frustration that Colombia were not able to beat Brazil in the final Group fixture. There will be a slight concern about the chances missed in that game, but Colombia have won the Group and that has given them a chance to face a surprising opponent in the Quarter Final.

Early wins over Paraguay and Costa Rica helped Colombia earn their Quarter Final spot before the final match with Brazil, which ended 1-1. Topping the Group means avoiding Uruguay in the next Round and Colombia are certainly playing with the confidence and belief to think they will be playing in the Copa America Final next weekend.

Colombia missed some big chances in the 1-1 draw with Brazil and that also means they have seen their 10 game winning run ended. However, that result has pushed their unbeaten run to 26 games and Colombia would love to keep that going through to the resumption of the World Cup Qualifiers in September.

Jefferson Lerma is suspended.

Panama

The majority of fans would have expected the likes of Mexico and United States to have been the biggest threats from the CONCACAF Confederation in this Copa America tournament. However, it is Canada and Panama who are representing in the Quarter Final and the latter are responsible for helping to dump the hosts out of the tournament.

After losing to Uruguay, Panama needed to bounce back if they were going to earn a spot in the Quarter Final. They took advantage of United States being reduced to ten men early in the second Group match and beat the hosts 2-1 before Panama secured a comfortable win over Bolivia to finish behind Uruguay in Group C.

Panama have won 8 of their last 12 games, but the exceptions in that run have all been losses. They had lost twice in a row after going down 3-1 to Uruguay, but Panama will be feeling much better after wins over United States and Bolivia.

Head to Head

Panama beat Colombia twice in the 2005 Gold Cup in their last competitive fixtures.

The nations have met in two friendlies since then and Colombia won both very comfortably in 2007 and 2019.

Prediction

The only real criticism you could have of Colombia is that they have perhaps underperformed in the final third, despite scoring plenty of goals in this tournament and during a 10 game winning run that was ended in the 1-1 draw with Brazil.

The most effective performance was in the 3-0 win over Costa Rica and there is every reason to believe Colombia have far too much for Panama.

Finishing above United States to earn the second Quarter Final spot in Group C means Panama have already overachieved in this tournament. This will give them a lot of confidence to take into the World Cup Qualifiers as they look to take part in the World Cup Finals hosted by the Confederation, but Panama have had some breaks.

Beating a United States team reduced to ten men early in the first half is an achievement, but playing ten men clearly turned the match.

Panama were well beaten by Uruguay and they have lost half of their last 8 games, which makes it tough to believe they can contain this Colombia team.

If Colombia score early, they will certainly be able to exploit spaces when Panama do decide to chase a way back into the game and the South American nation can move into the Semi Final behind a good win.

The Pick :

Colombia 3-0 Panama

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Colombia - 1.5 Asian Handicap at 2.03 with Bet365