Brazil v Costa Rica

Brazil vs Costa Rica Preview

Brazil will take on Costa Rica at the SoFi Stadium with the nine-time Copa American champions looking to reclaim their crown off South American rivals, Argentina, who won the previous edition, while Group D underdogs Costa Rica will be eager to extend their recent winning streak to three games following wins in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

Brazil are priced as outright favourites to win Group D and so they should but results in recent times have had more than a few people scratching their heads amidst uncertainty as to who the permanent national coach will be.

For a while it looked like Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti would take over the reins but in the interim, Fernando Diniz's tenure in charge of the Selecao turned out to be disastrous as Brazil were handed three consecutive defeats in the CONMEBOL section of the World Cup qualifiers.

Losses at the hands of Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina have not only left Brazil sitting in the precarious sixth place spot in the table but it also signalled the end of Diniz's stint in charge, being replaced by Dorival Junior who has guided Brazil to a four-game unbeaten run which includes wins in international friendlies against England and Mexico.

CONCACAF outfit Costa Rica find themselves in a bit of a ‘group of death' as they have been drawn alongside the likes of Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay and they are understandably priced as the underdogs of Group D despite gaining some encouraging results of late.

After being dealt back-to-back defeats in the CONCACAF Nations League against Panama in home and away losses, Costa Rica have produced a promising sequence of results in all competitions as Gustavo Alfaro's side have suffered just one defeat in their last six games.

That loss came in the form of a 3-1 loss away at Argentina in an international friendly but four victories gained over the likes of El Salvador, Honduras, St Kitts and Nevis and Grenada, the latter two results being World Cup qualifying wins, will give them a boost.

This recent flurry of wins should give Costa Rice a welcome and timely shot in the arm ahead of this upcoming encounter against Brazil but the odds still seem to be stacked against Los Ticos as they have managed to capture just six wins from their last 17 internationals overall along with being handed nine defeats as well.

Goals also look set to feature as eight out of Costa Rica's last 10 games in all competitions have resulted in Over 2.5 goals.

Brazil v Costa Rica Verdict

Brazil are understandably outright favourites to win this clash having won each of the last 10 meetings against Costa Rica but a win for Brazil plus a few goals appeal here.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.50

Other side bets worth considering:

Brazil win & Over 3.5 goals @ 2.30

Correct Score: Brazil 3-1 @ 11.00