Colombia v Uruguay: Team News, History, Form and Prediction

South America duo Colombia and Uruguay will meet on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro with a world cup quarter-final place up for grabs.

Team News:

Colombia have utilised their squad to great effect throughout the tournament to date, resting key men for the final group game once qualification was secured. The effect will be that all the players have tasted action and will be ready once called upon. The likely XI is set to resemble the team which beat Greece 3-0 which means that Jackson Martinez, scorer of two goals in the win over Japan will be on the bench while Mario Yepes is set to be recalled.

The big news from the Uruguay camp will be the absence of Luis Suarez. The Liverpool man, so inspirational for his country, was handed a four month ban from football after an alleged bite on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. The forward is set to appeal the FIFA ruling however he will still be missing from this weekend’s clash.

History and form:

Saturday’s meeting will be the 41st meeting between the teams with Colombian edging results to date. The Los Cafeteros have won 19 of their games losing 13. Jose Pekerman’s side has been largely ignored in the all the pre-tournament talk however despite the absence of star forward Radamel Falcao they eased their way through a group containing Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan scoring 9 goals and conceding 2. Jackson Martinez, Juan Cuadrado and James Rodriguez have caught the eye so far for the Colombians and they once again will be in the men to watch.

Uruguay meanwhile have yet to hit the heights that many expected. The wins over England and Italy owed more to defensive strength and resilience not to mention impressive finishing when opportunities came rather than sweeping attacking football. The absence of Suarez will be a major blow.

Prediction:

Colombian have looked the more impressive of the two sides to date however the fact that they had to navigate an easier group than Uruguay should not be ignored. The Uruguayans lost to Costa Rica without their talisman Suarez and they certainly pack more a threat with the forward in their ranks. That said they are dogged in defence and with Edinson Cavani in their line up still possess plenty of threat up front. The fact that they are all so up in arms in Uruguay over the suspension will no doubt unite the team and this could play into their arms. This game will be tight affair with Uruguay ability to kill out games likely to be a key factor.

Do you think a Uruguay side minus Suarez can beat Colombia? Titan Bet are offering 4/1 on a Colombian win.

Trevor is a Dublin based journalist and content writer, having already written a number of sports related books, including Running through Walls, the Dave Langan Story. You can follow Trevor at Google here.

Free Bet
Tackles
Passes
Shots
Goals
Offsides
Cards
Footybunker.com