Chile vs Venezuela prediction: SOUTH AMERICA: World Championship – Qualification betting tips on match 2024-11-19 00:00.
[p]Chile were held to a goalless draw by Peru in the ‘basement battle’ of CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualification (WCQ), extending their winless run to eight games (D3, L5) and keeping them rooted to the bottom of the standings after 11 rounds. A six-point gap to the play-off spot at the start of the round is starting to look difficult to overcome as they bid to snap a two-tournament absence from the global stage.[/p]
[p]That spot was currently held by upcoming opponents Venezuela at the start of the matchday, so they’ve got a great chance here to cut the deficit. As the scrutiny on head coach Ricardo Gareca intensifies, a recent run of six wins across eight H2Hs (L2) should give him confidence of turning things around. That period includes three consecutive home WCQ H2H wins, each time scoring exactly three goals, which could help overturn the poor sequence across their last eight home WCQs (W1, D2, L5) that has seen La Roja average 0.63 goals per game.[/p]
[p]Venezuela are also in the midst of their own winless run (D3, L3), but they should be in good spirits after coming back from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Brazil despite ending the game with ten men. The visitors have the most draws of any side in this qualification campaign (W2, D6, L3) but one of their wins came in the reverse fixture (3-0) where ironically Chile also picked up a red card. [/p]
[p]Another win here will keep them in the top-seven race as the Wine-Reds look to erase the unwanted history of being the only CONMEBOL side to have never qualified for the World Cup. The challenge is to improve their form on the road, where Venezuela have picked up just two points across their last 14 away WCQs (L12).[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Arturo Vidal couldn’t score on his return to the Chile side after a one-year absence, but will hope to add to his tally of five H2H goals in WCQs in this match. Another veteran looking to have a telling impact could be Salomón Rondón, who has three goals in H2H WCQs, the last two coming in wins.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Nine of the last ten WCQ H2Hs returned over 2.5 goals with five witnessing exactly three.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Sridhar B[/i][/p]