Colombia vs. Peru: Preview and betting tips

An important match awaits Colombia and Peru on Friday evening. The eventual winner will take a big step towards advancing to the World Cup in Qatar, while the loser will have a tough time. What to expect from the match?

Colombia are in fifth place, but only a point ahead of Peru. Four teams, Uruguay, Colombia, Peru and Chile will fight for the last two qualification spots. In theory, Bolivia could also take a peek at the tournament.

Peru is on the same points as Colombia and is climbing higher and higher up the table, having won the last two rounds. It has the promotion in its hands, having already played both Brazil and Argentina.

Colombia is not doing as well as it did in the last two World Cups. James Rodriguez is in less than ideal form, with Porto winger Luis Diaz and right back Juan Cuadrado being the mainstays.

In the away camp, defensive midfielder Renato Tapia, who is a mainstay of Spain’s Celta Vigo, is worth mentioning. Striker Gianluca Lapadula has scored ten times and assisted four times this season in Italy’s second tier.

Colombia can’t get out of the crisis. It unnecessarily spoiled a good qualification last autumn, not winning five rounds.

For Peru, the form curve is going the other way. It has won its last two qualifying matches, and through all competitions has scored at least two goals in three of its last four games.

Given the home team’s experience in similarly important matches, I think they will win and leapfrog their rivals in the table.