Brazil vs Venezuela Copa America Prediction, Odds & Picks

How to Watch Brazil vs Venezuela

The Copa America is back!

Following questions over the potential cancellation or delay of the competition, the tournament will now be officially starting this Sunday with a Brazil vs Venezuela opener.

Brazil, as hosts, will likely have high expectations for themselves.

With a goal of becoming back-to-back Copa America champions for the third time since the 1990s, the Brazilians will be expected to have a strong showing in their first match of the group stage.

Venezuela, on the other hand, have yet to win the competition. In fact, their best-ever finish was a spot in fourth back in the 2011 edition.

Like many other South American teams, Venezuela should never be taken lightly and have a number of exciting players that could prove to be the difference-makers in the Copa America.

Nonetheless, it’s doubtful that they’ll be able to hold back some of the Brazilian firepowers that now looks ready to at least find the back of the net a couple of times this weekend.

Neymar And Roberto Firmino Are On Excellent Form For Brazil

Let’s start with Neymar.

The attacker has two goals and two assists in his two previous appearances for Brazil earlier this month. Since the start of the World Cup qualifiers, he has a total of five goals and four assists in four matches.

The 29-year-old has been unstoppable for Brazil, and after being unable to win a Ligue 1 title with PSG at club level this season, he’ll now be eager to win some silverware this summer with his country.

As for Roberto Firmino, the forward has been just as crucial for Brazil with three goals and an assist in six World Cup qualifiers.

And despite the fact that he was a bit quiet in his two previous matches, the argument could be made that he is now due for a statement-making performance this weekend.

Based off Brazil’s last match, expect the two to start up top in a 4-4-2 formation.

Doubts Surround The Frontline Of Venezuela

But what about Venezuela’s attack? The good news is that it’s easy to pinpoint excellent chance creators, wingers and strikers.

Yangel Herrera has the talents of a world-class player, Josef Martinez is a powerful striker, Cristian Casseres Jr has an exciting amount of potential, and Tomas Rincon is a very well-balanced midfielder.

Diving into Venezuela’s commendable roster is an article of its own, but that said, they’ve had issues with scoring in recent matches.

In this month’s two World Cup qualifiers, Venezuela were only able to find the back of the net once in two matches — a 0-0 draw with Uruguay and an embarrassing 3-1 defeat by Bolivia.

Their xG (expected goals) numbers have been underwhelming in those games, and in their latest draw, they were only able to collect a tally of 0.87 against Uruguay.

Brazil Have An Incredible Amount Of Depth And Options In Roster

The unfortunate truth for Venezuela is that man-for-man, they aren’t at the level of Brazil.

Unlike other squads who need to rely on marquee players, Brazil have a wealth of talent that plays in elite teams from the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

Even if you were to take Neymar and Firmino out of the picture, Brazil could replace them with the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Vinicius Junior, Richarlison and others.

In defense and in net, they are also extremely deep, which is also why they’ve done so well with frustrating opposing goalscorers.

In their last four games, Brazil collected four clean sheets. Will they collect a fifth this weekend on their path towards another potential win?