Ecuador vs Venezuela: Preview and Prediction

Ecuador vs Venezuela
2018 World Cup Qualifiers – South America.
Date: Tuesday; 15th November 2016,
Kick-off at 21:00 UK
Venue: Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa, Quito.

Ecuador suffered yet another defeat in the World Cup qualifiers, this time by a narrow 2-1 margin against Uruguay in the matchday 11. And this is their fourth defeat in six matches. The team who once bossed at the top of the table is now dropped to fourth position with 17 points. There is plenty of pressure on them as teams like Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Peru behind them are inside a 3-point gap. However, Ecuador can boast of a good home record in qualifying campaigns as they have lost only once in 13 matches since 2011.

Venezuela finally got their first win of the World Cup campaign as they crushed Bolivia by 5 goals without reply last week. This helped them move up from the rock bottom of the table. But they are still reeling at the 9th position with a meagre 5 points. They do have a mathematical chance of making it to the World Cup final showdown in Russia. While the realistic chances are pretty minimal. There is already a 9 point gap between them and the 8th placed Peru.

Ecuador vs Venezuela: Head-to-head stats

Venezuela were defeated 3-1 at home by Bolivia in the first leg clash of the current qualification campaign.

Ecuador’s home record against Venezuela in all competitions is a healthy one as they bagged 5 wins from the last 6 matches and were beaten only once.

Interestingly, Venezuela have managed to score only once in the last 6 visits to Ecuador. And the lone goal was scored in the match they won in 2007.

Ecuador vs Venezuela: Prediction

The home record, both in the competition and in the head-to-head heavily favours Ecuador for this particular fixture against Venezuela. And Quito is a difficult place for many visiting teams to get away with a result, due to it is situated 9,350 feet above the sea level. Also, Venezuela are a team who have a poor record in away games in the qualifiers. They are currently win-less in the last 8, with 6 of them being defeats.

To summarize, Ecuador look good to grab a win and make amends for their slip in form in recent fixtures. Also it is worth to note that they defeated Chile 3-0 in their last home game.