Chile vs Argentina predictions: Quarter-finals await for defending champs
- Argentina have lost just one of their last 21 matches
- Chile’s last six competitive games have yielded just six goals
- Recommended bet: Bet Builder - Argentina to win and under 2.5 goals
Reigning champions Argentina can book their place in the Copa America quarter-finals if they make it two wins from two in Group A when they face Chile at MetLife Stadium during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Lionel Scaloni's side, who are also the reigning world champions, kicked off the tournament with a routine 2-0 victory over Canada, while Chile were held to a goalless draw by Peru in their first match.
Team news
Chile have doubts surrounding the availability of attacking midfielder Diego Valdes, who was withdrawn at half-time against Peru with an apparent knock. Dario Osorio, his replacement in that game, is the most likely to come into the starting XI if the Club America player fails to prove his fitness.
Argentina have no fresh injury concerns so could name an unchanged XI, although Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez will hope to be included after scoring from the bench against Canada.
The stats
Chile have failed to win any of their last 12 meetings with Argentina in regulation time, although they did triumph in back-to-back Copa America finals on penalties against La Albiceleste in 2015 and 2016.
This will be the sixth time that these two sides have met across the last five Copa Americas, as not only did they lock horns in the 2015 and 2016 finals, but they also clashed in the group stages of 2016 and 2021 and the 2019 third-place play-off.
Argentina are on a six-match winning run, last losing to Uruguay in World Cup qualifying last November. That is also the only defeat they have suffered since losing their opening match at the 2022 World Cup against Saudi Arabia.
Chile have only won one of their last nine competitive fixtures, a run that dates back more than two years.
Prediction
Argentina did not need to get out of first gear during their victory over Canada and it is now just one defeat in 21 games for the world's number one ranked side.
It could be a similar story against a Chile team struggling for consistency and that lacked any real cutting edge in their tournament opener.
That stalemate against Peru means La Roja have now failed to score in their last four competitive games, while their last six fixtures at either the Copa America or in World Cup qualifying have yielded a total of just six goals.
With Argentina having kept 12 clean-sheets in 15 matches since lifting the World Cup, they should have no problem keeping Chile at bay, but with energy perhaps being conserved for the knockout stages, do not expect Scaloni's side to rack up the goals.
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