FIFA World Cup qualifier preview: Uruguay vs Brazil

Brazil will be aiming to continue their perfect start to their CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers when they face Uruguay on the road on Tuesday night.

Brazil have netted 10 goals from their opening three games, but they were made to work hard against Venezuela last week as they won by a 1-0 scoreline. Roberto Firmino scored before the hour mark.

Uruguay, on the other hand, picked up a comfortable 3-0 win over Colombia away from home. Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and Darwin Nunez were all on the scoresheet.

Brazil are currently the only side with the perfect record in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers with nine points from their opening three games and they are two points clear of Argentina at the top.

Uruguay, meanwhile, are fourth on the table with six points on the board and will be hoping to go level with the Selecao on Tuesday by registering a rare victory over them.

Key Stats:

The teams have met on 76 occasions and Brazil have been the dominant side with 38 wins to Uruguay’s 21.

Since 2001, Uruguay have been unable to beat their South American counterparts with three draws and seven defeats.

Cavani has scored three goals in five previous meetings against Brazil, but has not been on the winning side.

Brazil beat Uruguay 4-1 during their previous visit to the Estadio Centenario in 2017.

Paulinho scored all four goals during the FIFA World Cup qualifier. He has been not picked by Tite since November 2018.

Team News:

Uruguay have had injury concerns to deal with prior to the qualifiers. Sebastian Coates, Martin Silva, Ronald Araujo, Federico Valverde and Maxi Gomez are unavailable for selection.

Elsewhere, Matias Vina has tested positive for COVID-19. Agustin Oliveros, 22, is in line to make his national team debut at left-back.

Predicted Uruguay Line-up (4-4-2): Martin Campana; Martin Caceres, Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez, Agustin Oliveros; Lucas Torreira, Nahitan Nandez, Nicolas De La Cruz; Rodrigo Bentancur; Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez

Brazil have also been weakened compared to the previous international break with a number of high-profile players bowing out of the squad.

Casemiro, Eder Militao and Gabriel Menino are out of contention after contracting the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Fabinho, Rodrigo Caio, Pedro and David Neres are nursing injuries.

Predicted Brazil Line-up (4-3-3): Ederson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Renan Lodi; Allan, Douglas Luiz, Everton Ribeiro; Gabriel Jesus, Richarlison, Roberto Firmino

Predicted Score:

Despite the absence of key players, both teams have experienced central defensive partnerships in the form of Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin (Uruguay) and Marquinhos and Thiago Silva (Brazil).

Compared to Uruguay, Brazil have been hampered more with the unavailability of key attacking players such as Neymar and Coutinho and the hosts have the best chance of ending their 19-year winless streak against them.

Uruguay 2-1 Brazil

Stats from Transfermarkt.com and 11v11.com