In the early hours of Friday, Bolivia hosts Ecuador at the Estadio Hernando Siles as both teams look for potentially crucial points in World Cup qualifying.
Bolivia form guideThe home team is at the bottom of the qualifying group, losing their opening two matches against Brazil and Argentina. A 3-0 home defeat against the latter means that Bolivia have failed to win in their last five games, having picked up just one draw and suffered four losses.
Their recent struggles have been down to a lack of goals, as Bolivia have failed to score in eight of their last 11 outings.
Bolivia also has a poor recent home record in qualifying, as they have suffered three straight defeats in qualifiers, having conceded at least three goals in all three home matches in qualifying. Their recent home qualifiers have been high-scoring, with over 2.5 goals scored in their last five games.
Ecuador form guideThe visitors have made a mixed start to their qualifying campaign, winning one and losing one of their two qualifiers. However, a 2-1 home win over Uruguay last time out means that they have won four of their previous five matches.
Their recent outings have been relatively high-scoring, with over 2.5 goals scored in five of the previous seven matches.
A 2-1 home win over Uruguay in their last match ended a five-game winless run in World Cup qualifiers. The game was a rare high-scoring outing for Ecuador, as seven of their previous nine games in qualifying have produced over 2.5 goals.
Ecuador has struggled for away wins in qualifying, winning just one of their last eight qualifiers while suffering five defeats in the poor run.
What am I backing?Neither team has a great recent record in qualifying, and I believe this could be a relatively even but high-scoring encounter. The bet I am backing is over 2.5 goals scored.
