World champions Argentina ran out 2-0 victors against Canada in their opening game of the Copa America, and they can take a commanding position at the top of Group A with another victory over Chile in New Jersey.
Chile struggled to a 0-0 draw with Peru in their opening clash and they’re likely to be battling it out with Canada for second place.
After a tough start to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, Chile are seen as outsiders heading into this contest.
Lionel Messi and co can secure a place in the quarter-finals with a victory and they head into their second game of this expanded Copa America in brilliant form.
Messi was fantastic in Argentina’s opening game, but the Inter Miami forward failed to get on the scoresheet. That wasn’t for the lack of trying, as Messi had a game-high six shots in the tournament’s curtain-raiser.
Messi also had a game-high three shots on target and he departed for international duty having scored in nine of his last 11 MLS appearances.
While the 36-year-old is past his peak, he remains an incredible player and a reliable goalscorer. Messi scored twice against Guatemala in Argentina’s final friendly ahead of the tournament and he continued to be a threat against Canada.
He posted an Expected Goals tally of 1.31 from his chances, which is bad news for this Chilean side. Messi has scored in two of the last three meetings between these two sides and he is a worthy favourite to score in this encounter.
Back him at +110 to strike against Chile.
Argentina's win over Canada was their 14th in 15 games since lifting the World Cup. The holders are the frontrunners to qualify for the 2026 tournament, having won five of their first six qualifiers.
Each of those victories have come to nil, while Chile have failed to score in five of their last six competitive games following that draw with Peru.
Goals are certainly a problem for this Chilean side, who remain reliant on the likes of Alexis Sanchez.
While Argentina have an incredible array of attacking options, boss Lionel Scaloni has built a side that is incredibly hard to break down.
The victory over Canada was Argentina’s 12 win to nil in their last 15 matches, so back them to shut down a Chilean side that has scored just twice in six World Cup qualifiers.
Chile had a very high foul count in their draw with Peru, sharing 19 fouls across nine different players. Of those, left-back Gabriel Suazo had two and the defender is likely in for a difficult test in their second game of the tournament.
Argentina started Angel Di Maria on the right flank in their opening game, while Rodrigo De Paul and Lionel Messi both drifted out to that side of the pitch.
Those players had support in Nahuel Molina, who had 78 total touches of the ball and got himself into really advanced positions.
Suazo made two fouls high up the pitch to break up play and this Chile side will need to be even more disruptive in their clash with the South American champions.
Look to Suazo to pick up a couple more fouls in this game, which is well priced at +120 given the step up in the quality of opposition.
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Chile | +650 |
Tie | +320 |
Argentina | -209 |
Lionel Messi | +110 |
Julian Alvarez | +187 |
Lautaro Martinez | +333 |
Alejandro Garnacho | +333 |
Enzo Fernandez | +333 |
Nicolas Gonzalez | +333 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.