Uruguay and Paraguay will be competing in Group B of the Copa America 2015 tournament in Chile on Saturday. The winner will have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
According to Liam Apicella of SportsMole, the winner of this game "will finish top of the pile" if Argentina somehow loses against Jamaica on Saturday. He first turned his focus to Uruguay, which will have to play without their best player on the field, Luis Suarez.
"Despite being the nation's leading goal scorer of all time, [Suarez] is not in Chile due to his suspension for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at last summer's World Cup," Apicella wrote.
However, Apicella pointed out that Uruguay has performed just fine without the help of Suarez.
"During their two outings so far, La Celeste have done little to take the attention away from the absent Barcelona talisman," Apicella wrote. "They were perhaps lucky to record a 1-0 win over minnows Jamaica first time out, while they missed a handful of chances - many of which Suarez may well have converted - during the 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Argentines."
Apicella looked at how various scenarios would work out for Chile.
"A draw would probably see them advance as one of the two best third-placed finishers, while a win would secure their spot automatically," Apicella wrote. "However, a loss would leave them hoping that the nations finishing third in the other two groups have fewer points than themselves."
As for Paraguay, Apicella reported that the team had trouble filling out the head coach position. They eventually found Ramon Diaz.
"Whatever Diaz has worked on with the players between those matches and now has worked," Apicella wrote. "They battled back from two goals down to claim an unlikely point against Argentina in their first group outing, while Edgar Benitez scored the only goal of the game to secure all three points against Jamaica."
According to Apicella, this development meant that Paraguay will move on to the next round. The only thing that matters to them is if they place in first, second or third place in Group B.
"Their Copa America form is positive, having lost none of their previous eight matches - a run that dates back to 2007," Apicella wrote.
As for predictions on who will win Saturday's game, Sean Donnelly of AllSportsNews cited that bet365 priced Uruguay as "heavy 21/20 favorites." However, the chances of an upset are at "odds of 11/4."
"After all, Uruguay are defending champions and outrank Paraguay by some 78 places in the FIFA rankings for a reason," Donnelly wrote.
However, Apicella predicted that the matchup could end in a 1-1 tie.
"We've seen many times at previous international tournaments that when a draw will allow both teams to qualify, that is often the score line that is played out," Apicella wrote. "It could be the same story here, with both unlikely to commit too many players forward in case they concede a potentially crucial goal at the other end."
The game between Uruguay and Paraguay will begin streaming online at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT Saturday on beIN Sports Connect and on Fubo TV.
