Uruguay will make the trip to the dizzying heights of El Alto to face Bolivia in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.
La Celeste have struggled in qualifying since the autumn, but should have enough to advance, while Bolivia are in a real scrap to claim the playoff place in seventh.
Match preview
Bolivia’s woeful away form continued last week, when they were beaten 3-1 in Lima by a Peru side that started the day bottom of the standings, and had scored just three goals across their first 12 qualifiers.
A shock success in Chile in September ended a 67-game wait for a win on the road in World Cup qualifying, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Bolivia could wait just as long for their next, if their results since that victory in Santiago are anything to go by.
La Verde have lost all three since, against Argentina, Ecuador and Peru, conceding 13 goals in the process, and after also dropping points in their last game on home soil to Paraguay, hopes of a first finals appearance since 1994 are coming under threat.
Oscar Villegas‘s men are slightly fortunate that Venezuela’s form has fallen off a cliff, but after seemingly being down and out, Chile and Peru are now back in contention and chasing the tail of Bolivia.
Just four points separate the four teams currently outside the automatic places, but with such poor away form, Bolivia have simply got to maximise their output at home if they are to have any chance.
Moving to a higher altitude at El Alto initially gave Bolivia a huge lift, beating Venezuela comfortably, and Colombia, despite being reduced to 10 men.
Chile and Brazil await in their final two home games after this meeting, but the gap is growing between themselves and the automatic places, so the playoffs look like La Verde’s best hope, and they will be played on neutral ground, denying them the opportunity of significant home advantage.
Uruguay’s last trip to Bolivia was in La Paz, and ended in a 3-0 defeat in 2021, while they also lost 4-1 there in 2012, so it is safe to say this could be a tricky trip for the visitors to navigate.
Marcelo Bielsa‘s men come into the game on the back of a defeat too, after going down 1-0 to Argentina at home on Friday night.
That result represented their first competitive home defeat since losing to the same opponents in qualifying for the last World Cup, and it was just a third defeat in 13 across this entire campaign.
However, wins have been hard to come by of late, as only one of their seven qualifiers since the Copa America have ended in victory, resulting in Uruguay slipping down the standings.
A very good November has almost secured their spot at the finals, when they beat Colombia and drew in Brazil, but home defeats in South American qualifying can be very costly, given how difficult it is to pick up points on the road.
It is likely Uruguay only need one more win to put enough breathing space between themselves and the chasing pack outside the top six, but a defeat here would see Bolivia close the gap to just four points, with the fate of so many nations still on a knife edge.
Team News
Miguelito will be the key man for Bolivia, despite his very limited game time at Santos, as only Lionel Messi has scored more than the young attacker in qualifying.
There were no big surprises in the XI that started in Peru, and Villegas could start with a similar lineup here, unless any last-minute injuries crop up.
Henry Vaca and Jeyson Chura have missed out due to injury, while attacking trio Cesar Menacho, Gabriel Sotomayor and Enzo Monteiro have been dropped from the squad.
Likewise, Uruguay have a strong squad at their disposal, with few injury concerns, but Giorgian De Arrascaeta is set to miss out after being forced off in the first half against Argentina.
Flamengo team mate Nicolas de la Cruz was the man who replaced De Arrascaeta that night, and it could be him who comes into the side to deputise from the start, unless Bielsa opts to move Nahitan Nandez into midfield while bringing Guillermo Varela in at right-back.
Facundo Pellistri made his first start anywhere for six weeks against Argentina, after a recent injury at Panathinaikos, but his place is arguably under most threat out of anyone else from the XI on Friday.
Bolivia possible starting lineup:
Viscarra; Medina, Haquin, Morales, Sagredo; Villamil, Robson Matheus, R Vaca; Miguelito, Algaranaz, Fernandez
Uruguay possible starting lineup:
Rochet; Varela, R Araujo, Gimenez, Olivera; Valverde, Bentancur, Nandez; B Rodriguez, Nunez, M Araujo
We say: Bolivia 1-1 Uruguay
This is a game that will hinge solely on how Uruguay adapt to the altitude at El Alto, and Colombia’s troubles here at the end of last year suggest it could be a struggle.
However, Bolivia have lost that spark they had a few months ago after a few humbling defeats on the road, and the disappointment of throwing two points away late on against Paraguay, who proved that visiting teams can be competitive here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
