Paraguay – Jamaica

Round 2 in the Copa America group B, with Paraguay taking on Jamaica in Antofagasta. Paraguay has 1 point, Jamaica no points.

Paraguay proved exceptional character to come back from a 0-2 halftime deficit against Argentina, snatching a point in the 90th minute thanks to a Lucas Barrios screamer from the edge of the box. Sure, Paraguay was a little lucky to get that result, but it was a very good performance. Los Guaranies brought to Copa America a squad composed mostly of players from the South American leagues, but the attack is exceptional with the likes of Barrios, Valdez, Santa Cruz or Bobadilla.

Jamaica is on the back of a respectable 0-1 defeat to Uruguay, with the Raggae Boys actually having the chance to level the match in the last few minutes. It was more than most people expected from Jamaica (me included, I bet on Uruguay to cover the spread), but the reality is that Uruguay was absolutely dreadful. Jamaica didn`t play anything special and showed a lot of weaknesses at the back, as expected, but Uruguay looked completely lost without Luis Suarez – and on the top of it, they seemed like they weren`t even trying too much, playing with long balls, a slow tempo and not putting in any kind of effort in 50-50 balls.

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Lineups:

Paraguay: Vilar – Caceres, Silva, Aguilar, Samudio – Gonzalez, Ortigoza, Ortiz, Caceres – Valdez, Barrios

Jamaica: Kerr – Mariappa, Morgan, Hector, Lawrence – McCleary, McAnuff, Austin, Laing – Brown, Mattocks

Listen, Jamaica is clearly a better team than a couple of years ago and their imports from the first two english leagues helped create a decent team. The likes of Morgan (Leicester) or Mariappa (Crystal Palace) are quality players, but you can`t do it at this level with 5-6 guys. There is still a lot of naivety in the team, there are very poorly covered positions on the pitch and the Uruguay result is giving Jamaica too much credit.

As opposed to a lazy and tired Uruguay, Paraguay showed fantastic fighting spirit in the first round to go with a good performance. Paraguay knows that this is their big chance to gain a commanding position for advancing further in the competition after the draw vs. Argentina – I doubt they will miss this shot and I doubt they will treat Jamaica lightly. Look for the favorites to come out strong, fight for every ball and in the end win it. Sheer quality will be what decides the match, but Paraguay’s form and attitude are factors which minimize the risk for an upset. As far as I`m concerned, Jamaica`s game against Uruguay will be the best of the Reggae Boyz in this tournament and they could be in for some harsher beatings in the last two rounds.

My tip on this one is a simple Paraguay win and I will invest maximum stakes on this bet, 10 units. Prediction: Paraguay – Jamaica 2-0.

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Pick: Paraguay
Odds: 1.80 @ Bet365
Stake: 10
Possible profit: 8
Event date: 16 June