Uruguay v Jamaica – Estadio Regional Calvo y Bascunan at 20:00 live on Premier Sports
Group B kicks off the Copa America action on Saturday night European time and we have found some interesting Asian handicap betting angles for you to get involved with.
The current Copa America champions are coming into the defence of their title a little underrated by some observers, sure they are missing star striker Luis Suarez and they have landed in a potentially tough draw but Los Charriuas are still a very good team with some world class players in their ranks.
Oscar Tabarez is a hugely experienced manager who leads his team into the tournament on the back of a seven game undefeated run, which includes a 2-1 win over Copa America hosts Chile back in November.
On top of that Uruguay have won this tournament more times than any other South American nation and have finished no worse than fourth in each of the last five competitions. They will certainly be keen to defend their title here and dispel any talk of being a one man team.
However, the absence of Suarez from their team can’t be ignored nor can he be replaced but there are other match winners in the squad who could step up and fill the void during this tournament. The likes of Edinson Cavani, Nicolas Lodeiro, Cristian Rodriguez and Abel Hernandez are all capable of creating and scoring goals on their day.
Jamaica’s defence will have their hands full even without Suarez in the Uruguay line up but Winfried Schafer has been talking up the Reggae Boyz chances of progressing from Group A to the quarter-finals.
With the slightly strange system of the two best third place finishing nations squeezing through to make up the numbers in the knock out rounds, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the Caribbean side make a real splash in their first ever Copa America appearance.
Their form as they enter the tournament in Chile is excellent, after lifting the Caribbean Cup last November they have won both their friendly matches in 2015. A 2-1 win over fellow Copa America competitors Venezuela, was backed up by a comprehensive 3-0 victory against Cuba but both these games were played at home in Jamaica.
When looking at their away record it becomes hard to see how they can make an impact against the likes of Argentina and Uruguay but they should give Paraguay are decent game in the battle for thrid place. The Asian handicap betting line is around the 1.5 mark which seems fair under the circumstances, but it still might not be enough for the Reggae Boyz this evening.
The bookies are expecting a comfortable win for the Copa America holders and as such the Over 2.5 goals price has been priced up at just 1.67 for this match and despite the obvious value on the Unders side of the market, we would prefer to see how Uruguay play without Suarez before backing them to rack up the goals.
The safer option here is to back the favourites to cover the Asian handicap betting line against the debutants, in what should be a fairly routine victory for Tabarez and his team as they begin the defence of their Copa America crown.
Asian handicap betting recommendation: Uruguay -1.5 at 2.0
Prices correct at the time of writing.
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