Paraguay vs Colombia prediction: SOUTH AMERICA: World Championship – Qualification betting tips on match 2023-11-21 23:00.
Away draws can be worth their weight in gold when it comes to CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying (WCQ), and Paraguay’s scoreless stalemate in Santiago last week even ended the tenure of Chile boss Eduardo Berizzo. With Paraguay’s five WCQs producing just three total goals (GF1, GA2), that goalless draw probably wasn’t a great surprise, although it was an admirable result given they had to play out over 45 minutes with ten men.
Paraguay had a recent change of management themselves, with Daniel Garnero’s home debut a successful one, beating Bolivia 1-0 either side of the trip to Chile and an admirable, but fruitless, 1-0 loss in Argentina. After they missed the three previous World Cup finals, anything short of a top-six finish and direct qualification to the expanded 2026 tournament would prove a huge disappointment to the supporters.
Garnero himself pointed to Colombia’s magical come-from-behind win at home to Brazil (2-1), their first defeat of the Brazilians in more than eight years, as an indication of just how difficult they could be to face. Colombia will begin this sixth round of qualification action in third place, four points ahead of Paraguay who occupied the inter-confederation play-off place.
It was Colombia who fell agonisingly short of that spot in the 2022 WCQ cycle despite a handy away record of W2, D3 against the other five nations that missed the finals. They continue to be tough to crack away from home, securing 0-0 draws in Chile and Ecuador with their only two away trips so far. That, in addition with the last four H2Hs all producing fewer than 2.5 goals, suggests that Paraguay’s habit of participating in low scoring affairs is set to continue!
Players to watch: Antonio Sanabria was the sole goalscorer in Paraguay’s previous home fixture, netting just his third international goal – his other two interestingly came against Colombia! Luis DĂaz was described by his manager as a “hero” after scoring Colombia’s a match-winning brace against Brazil as his father, who just days ago was released by a number of kidnappers, was watching on from the stands.
Hot streak: The visiting side on the day has failed to score in all five of Paraguay’s WCQ’s this cycle.