The rescheduled Copa America 2021 kicks off this week as tournament hosts and reigning champions Brazil take on Venezuela in the opening fixture of Group A.
Stadium: Estádio Nacional de Brasília (Brasília)
Key Statistics
Brazil have won the Copa on nine occasions in the past. They are on a seven game-winning run. The hosts have not conceded a goal in their last four games and have kept six clean sheets from their previous seven games.
Venezuela have never won the Copa America. They head into this tie with just one win from their last six games. They have kept only two clean sheets from their last 10 games.
Head to Head
23 Brazil won; 3 draws; 2 Venezuela
Latest Performance
Brazil: W-W-W-W-W
Venezuela: D-L-W-L-L
Brazil
Nine-times Copa America winners and competition favourites Brazil will look to kick off their title defence with a win when they host Venezuela in Brasilia.
The tournament hosts are clearly the team to watch in this tournament and are well-positioned to defend their title after taking on hosting rights due to Colombia and Argentina‘s inability to host it.
Their form heading into this tie makes them even more pumped up for a matchday 1 win as they have lost just two games in the matches they have played since their Copa America win in 2019.
Tite’s men have been firing on all cylinders heading into this tournament and look set to continue their record of never losing in the opening Copa America game to a fellow South American side–only Mexico have won the hosts.
They will certainly fancy their chances here and will look to set the pace early as they aim to win their 10th Copa title and pull closer to record holders Uruguay.
Possible line-ups
Chelsea defender and Brazil captain Thiago Silva remains sidelined with a slight knock. He will be unable to feature in this tie, meaning Eder Militao and Marquinhos are likely to form the centre back parking for Tite.
Alisson Becker; Danilo, Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Fabinho; Roberto Firmino, Richarlison, Neymar, Gabriel Jesus.
Venezuela
FIFA 30th ranked team Venezuela would have hoped to begin their 19th Copa America campaign in the company of another team and not Brazil.
The visitors are still looking for their first win over the hosts in eight tries—a run that stretches back to 2008. They will hope to avoid a terrible start to the tournament as they aim to better their 4th place finish of 2011—their best-ever finish in Copa America.
But one win in six games that saw them lose four times means that they are not in the best shape to play Brazil.
But they will hope to build on the hard-fought 0-0 draw with Uruguay in their last outing and perhaps cause an upset early in the tournament.
Possible line-ups
With 13 members of his first-team squad testing positive for coronavirus, what line-up José Peseiro will field for this game remains to be seen.
Otherwise, here is the expected line-up if the game is set to go on.
Joel Graterol; Mikel Villanueva, Wilker Angel, Jhon Chancellor, Roberto Rosales; Tomas Rincon, Junior Moreno; Cristian Casseres, Alexander Gonzalez, Romulo Otero; Josef Martinez.
Betting Odds
Brazil : Draw : Venezuela :: 1.083 : 10.00 : 34.00
| Brazil Goal | Venezuela Goal | Betting Odds |
| 3 | 0 | 5.00 |
| 2 | 0 | 5.50 |
| 4 | 0 | 6.50 |
| 1 | 0 | 8.00 |
| 5 | 0 | 10.00 |
| 0 | 0 | 13.00 |
Prediction
Brazil 3- 0 Venezuela
