It’s nine years long since Brazil were champions of South America, but they head in to this summer’s Copa America as one of the favourites. There’s nothing too shocking about the Brazilians being fancied to win this tournament. However, they are still being backed without their star player. Just how much will they miss Neymar this summer? Read on as we preview Group B, bringing you the latest and best odds from our odds comparison, as well as some excellent betting tips and predictions.
The Barcelona forward is heading to the Olympics this summer, so he’s missing out the Copa America centenary tournament. With the Olympics taking place in Rio, you can understand why Brazilians would want to play a part. That does tell us that the Copa isn’t a high priority for Brazil, so can they really end their wait for glory?
They aren’t expected to face too much trouble in Group B. They’ve been made 2/7 favourites with Bet365 to finish top of the pile. That hints at exactly how easily they’re expected to see off a pretty weak challenge. The group minnows are Haiti, the most unfancied of all the sides at the Copa America. They’re priced at massive odds of 1000/1 with Betfair to win the tournament, as our live odds comparison shows.
While those odds are still shorter than what Leicester were to win the Premier League, the Brazilians won’t be too worried. The Haitians have only made the World Cup once, and their international record isn’t up to much. They are massive outsiders in Group B but the other two teams aren’t expected to get close to glory either.
Peru and Ecuador are the other sides in Group B, two nations who aren’t expected to put up much of a fight. Ecuador lost to Bolivia in last year’s tournament, and they failed to make it to the quarter finals. Peru fared pretty well, finishing third in the tournament overall. The Peruvians finished just behind Brazil in their group, but they outlasted them in the competition.
Ecuador have picked up since that last Copa. Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup has already started in South America, and the Ecuadorians have hit form in their first few matches. Having won their opener in Argentina, they now sit second behind Uruguay after six games. That’s lifted them up to 12th in the latest FIFA world rankings.
Having missed Antonio Valencia at the Copa America last summer, the Manchester United winger is back in the squad. He’ll be leading his country this time around, while West Ham’s Enner Valencia and Swansea’s Jefferson Montero are expected to play key roles. Those players have the class to cause the odd upset and Ecuador may be a decent bet in the outright winner betting at big odds.
Brazil’s opener is against Ecuador, and that could be the crucial game for them. Should the lack of Neymar be an obvious problem in that, this could be a tough few games for Dunga and his men. We’ve seen that the Brazilians never put much stock in this tournament, so it wouldn’t be a shock if they came here not fully focused.
Once Neymar was ruled out of the 2014 World Cup, Brazil looked pretty average on home soil. They do have stars like Oscar and Willian in their ranks, but they lack players who are at the very peak of the game. The fact that David Luiz has become the face of their tournament promotion in Neymar’s absence says it all.
With problems starting to mount for Brazil, it might be worth looking at the outsiders to pull off a shock. Ladbrokes have Ecuador at odds of 4/1 to win the group, which might be worth a look.
Alternatively, you could try Ecuador or draw on the double chance market, which is on offer at best odds of 7/5 with Bet365. After their win against Argentina, you’d think they could shock a below par Brazil side. Last year’s tournament saw the five time world champions lose to a poor Colombia side, so they’re at least capable of off days.
We also think Peru will be putting on another strong showing. Their opener is against minnows Haiti, and we don’t see them making much of an impact here. Unibet have Peru priced at odds of 15/16 to win their opening clash with a -1 handicap. Given their great exploits in Chile last year, we expect them to get off to a great start here.
Whatever you’re looking to back, our live odds comparison is a useful tool for ensuring you’ve got the best available price on every bet. It checks every market for the most up to date odds, and lets you know where you can find the best price. It’s incredibly simple, and it ensures that you get the maximum return you can for all of your successful bets.