Venezuela vs Ecuador World Cup Qualifiers 2018: Preview, Predictions, Schedule, Stream, Lineups
Venezuela will try to get its first points of the CONMEBOL qualifying campaign when its hosts the red-hot Ecuadorian team on Tuesday.
Venezuela showed great promise this summer in the Copa America by taking down Colombia and putting Brazil under intense pressure in the group stage. However, that early promise has not transferred over in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers. The team has struggled to win a single game or even get a tie.
The team lost 1-0 at Paraguay in their opening match, before losing 3-1 at Brazil. In the most recent game, they were destroyed 4-2 by Bolivia in La Paz. Now the team returns home and might just have its toughest challenge to date.
Ecuador is the only team in the entire conference to win every single one of its three games. The team defeated Argentina in Buenos Aires on opening match day, and that shocking win seems to have inspired the team into a deep run. A 2-0 win over Bolivia followed the Argentina win. In their latest effort, Ecuador overcame Uruguay 2-1.
Through three games the team has five goals scored and only one against. Felipe Caicedo has three of those goals, tying him for the lead in goals scored among all CONMEBOL players.
A win for Ecuador would cement their spot as the top team in the CONMEBOL. The two teams trailing Ecuador, Chile and Uruguay, will be facing off, inevitably forcing one or both sides to drop points. If those teams tie and Ecuador wins, then the Ecuadorians would have a four point lead on second place Chile heading into March's qualifiers.
Prediction: Venezuela finally gets some points and wins 2-1.
Start Time: 4 p.m. ET
The game can be seen online with a subscription for beIN Sports Connect.
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