Copa America Begins on Saturday with Brazil and Argentina as Big Favorites

This weekend marks the beginning of Copa America, a competition that brings together the best ten South American teams. For the first time in history, the remaining two spots were filled by Japan and Qatar which were invited by the South American Football Federation. The teams are divided into three groups of four, with Brazil, Argentina and Chile as the top seeds.

Group A Matches Begin on Saturday Night

The Copa America is hosted by Brazil and the home fans will have the chance to cheer for their favorite team on Saturday night. That’s because Brazil plays the opening match against Bolivia, one that they are widely expected to win. Odds of 1/10 offered by bet365 Sports reflect the difference of strength between these two football clubs. In order to enjoy even odds, punters would have to bet on Brazil to win the match by at least three goals. Given their offensive prowess, this ambitious bet isn’t that unlikely.

Peru and Venezuela are playing for the second and third places in Group A, so the direct matches of extraordinary importance. There is an obvious balance in this fixture, where Peru is the narrow favorite, with odds of 7/5 at Winners Sports. Their opponents are slight underdogs, with odds of 23/10 and punters can expect odds of 2/1 on the match to end undecided. Even the third team retains theoretical chances to qualify, so Venezuela and Peru are likely to take few chances upfront in this opening match.

Argentina and Colombia Play for the First Place

Argentina are the main favorites to win Group B at the Copa America, but they are also expected to face steep opposition from Colombia. The two teams meet in the opening match and the winner is likely to end up winning the group. The stakes are high and even though Argentina is credited with the first chance to prevail, punters can expect excellent odds of 6/5 on their victory. Those who place their bets on Colombia at Intertops Sportsbook will be paid at 5/2 if they manage to cause an upset.

The final match of this group is scheduled for Sunday evening and it will wrap up the weekend action in Copa America. Punters who want to take advantage of the highest odds available should bet on Paraguay to defeat Qatar as soon as possible. At the time of writing, bet365 Sports offers odds of 7/10 on this outcome, while pricing the Asian teams at 5/1. This is the first time Qatar plays in this competition and there’s a good chance for them to crumble under pressure against a clearly better opponent.