Copa America 2015: Brazil vs. Venezuela Predictions, Preview, Stream, Results, Schedule
Brazil and Venezuela will face off in a huge game on Sunday to finish off the group stages.
By the time this match starts, Colombia and Peru will have concluded their opening campaigns. If that game ends in a draw then these teams could potentially play for a tie, knowing full well that Brazil would finish atop the group and Venezuela would be among the top two third place teams in the group.
If Peru and Colombia tie and Brazil and Venezuela also draw, then all four teams would have four points. Every team would have the same goal differential so goals scored would be the second tie breaker. Depending on how many goals are scored in the draws, then the group could get altered greatly.
However, if there are two 0-0 draws then Brazil and Peru would finish atop the group with two goals apiece while Venezuela and Colombia would be at the three and four spots. Venezuela's head to head win over Colombia thrusts the Vinotintos over Los Cafeteros, eliminating Colombia from contention.
A win in Colombia-Peru game would not change much in this game either with a draw putting both through to the next round at the expense of the loser in that game.
The big story here is how Brazil manages without Neymar who will miss this game thanks to his lack of discipline against Colombia. Brazil has lacked any offensive creativity without its captain leading the way and looked particularly short on ideas in the 1-0 loss against Colombia. With the Cafeteros defense clogging space in front of goal, Brazil simply punted balls into the box hoping for someone to latch on to them. It never happened and Brazil wound up suffering a major defeat.
Prediction: A 0-0 draw.
Start Time: Sunday, 5:30 p.m. EST
The game can be streamed with a beIN Sports subscription.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com