A rematch of this summer’s Copa America final headlines CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying action on Tuesday, when Argentina travel to Colombia with the hopes of extending their near-perfect start to qualification.
Argentina will close out this month’s matches atop South America’s 10 team table even with a loss but face stiff competition from third place Colombia, who could leapfrog Uruguay into second place if they overcome the one point gap between them on Tuesday. A closely-contested game would offer similarities to the Copa America final in July, when Argentina needed a goal in extra time to win the title for a record 16th time.
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday, Sept. 10 | Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez — Barranquilla, Colombia
- Live stream: Fanatiz USA
- Odds: Colombia +175; Draw +185; Argentina +185
Storylines
Colombia: Their 28-match unbeaten run may have come to an end in July, but Colombia impressed throughout their run to the Copa America final and are dangerous enough to give Argentina a run for their money while hosting them. That said, Los Cafeteros did not resume their World Cup qualifying campaign in particularly strong fashion on Friday, when they tied 1-1 with Peru. They had 70 percent of the ball and outshot Peru 16 to nine but put just five shots on target on an inconsistent finishing day, requiring Luis Diaz to score an 82nd equalizer to rescue a point. Efficiency in attack will be crucial against Argentina, which makes Diaz and James Rodriguez players to watch on Tuesday.
Argentina: The visitors will once again be without Lionel Messi, who missed this month’s qualifiers with an ankle injury but could make his comeback this weekend for Inter Miami. Argentina have used Messi’s absence to prove once again that they are not a one-man team — they closed out the Copa America final without him after he picked up the aforementioned ankle issue and beat Chile 3-0 on Thursday. Manager Lionel Scaloni has been able to rely on the depth he has in attack during those two games, with each of Lautaro Martinez, Alexis Mac Allister, Julian Alvarez and Paulo Dybala since Messi’s injury. An attack-minded performance is expected out of them again on Tuesday, regardless of Scaloni’s team selection.
Prediction
Another hard-fought battle feels like it’s in the cards for these two sides, but expectations are rightly high for Argentina and have enough quality to pull out a big result and bolster their lead atop the table. Count on them them to do just that, even if Colombia give them a run for their money. Pick: Colombia 1, Argentina 2
