This Friday, Argentina will travel to Calama to play Colombia in the 15th round of their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers campaign.
Venue: Estadio Zorros del Desierto (Calama)
Key Statistics
Chile have kept three clean sheets from their last five games.
They have failed to score once in their last six competitive games.
The hosts have scored 15 goals and conceded 16 times in this WCQ campaign.
Argentina have scored 20 goals in the WCQ and have conceded only six goals so far.
Four of the goals they have conceded have come away from home.
The visitors have kept six clean sheets from their last six games.
Head to head
Argentina have won six of the last 15 meetings between both sides (over 90 minutes). Chile have only one win in that period.
Latest performances in all competitions
Chile: W-D-L-W-W
Argentina: D-W-W-W-D
Chile
Chile will hope to get back to winning ways when they welcome Argentina to Estadio Zorros del Desierto tomorrow.
The hosts were dealt a massive blow in their quest for a place in the upcoming November FIFA World Cup last time out as they were beaten 2-0 by Ecuador in their previous WCQ game.
Their sixth loss in the qualifier campaign saw them drop to sixth in the CONMEBOL table.
With that loss, Chile are no longer in charge of their destiny, and with just four games remaining, Chile face a race against time to ensure they don’t miss back-to-back World Cups for the first time since 2002/2006.
They have difficult clashes against Brazil and Uruguay after playing Argentina and so will be desperate to begin that tough run with a win in this game.
Encouragingly, they have avoided defeat in five of their seven 2022 WCQ games on home soil (W3, D2, L2). But they will be wary that Argentina inflicted one of their two home defeats in the previous WCQ cycle.
Possible Chile starting line-ups
Claudio Bravo (GK); Gary Medel, Guillermo Maripan, Paulo Diaz; Eugenio Mena, Claudio Baeza, Erick Pulgar, Charles Aranguiz, Mauricio Isla; Eduardo Vargas, Alexis Sanchez.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Arturo Vidal
Argentina
Argentina will look to continue their unbeaten run in this WCQ when they face Chile on Friday.
The visitors have taken 29 points from their opening 13 games (W8, D5) and are currently sitting second in the table.
The reigning Copa America champions have already qualified for the competition but are still targeting a top-of-the-table finish ahead of Brazil.
But they are currently four points behind their fierce rivals and so will need to avoid dropping points to give themselves any chance of finishing at the top.
Meanwhile, they come into this tie on the back of a goalless draw with Brazil. The result extended their unbeaten run to 27 games in all competitions (W18, D9). Another unbeaten outing will edge them closer to matching their record of 31 games unbeaten between 1991-93.
Their impressive run has been built on solid foundations, with ‘La Albiceleste’ not conceding a goal across their last six matches. They will fancy their chances of recording another shutout on this occasion.
Possible Argentina starting line-ups
Emiliano Martinez; Nahuel Molina, German Pezzella, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Acuna; Giovanni Lo Celso, Leandro Parades, Rodrigo De Paul; Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria.
Injured: Lionel Messi
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Chile 1-2 Argentina
