Peru – Ecuador SOCCER PICKS
Peru and Ecuador meet at the National Stadium in Lima, in a friendly match. This is the 10th friendly match of the year in Peru, after friendlies against the United States, Chile, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Iceland and Croatia. In the case of Ecuador, this is their 5th friendly of the year, after previous friendly matches against Oman, Qatar, Guatemala and Jamaica. The history of recent direct confrontations is favorable to the home team, which records 2 wins and 1 draw in the last 3 matches. The last direct confrontation between these two teams, on 05-09-2017, ended with the victory of Peru by (1-2). In this game the home factor may be decisive, since Ecuador presents considerable differences in their results at home and as a visitor.
Peru:
The team of the house disputes its 10th friendly of the year. In the previous friendlies he registered the following: United States (1-1) Peru, Peru (3-0) Chile, Germany (2-1) Peru, Netherlands (2-1) Peru, Sweden (0-0) Peru, Saudi Arabia (0-3) Peru, Peru (2-0) Scotland, Iceland (1-3) Peru and Peru (2-0) Croatia. This is a team that usually maintains its competitive levels in home and away matches, since in the last 30 matches they register 6 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses in away matches, with 23 goals scored and 13 conceded; against 10 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses at their stadium, with 25 goals scored and 11 conceded. In the last 10 home matches Peru has 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 8 of the last 9 matches for this competition. This is a team that usually scores many times first: opened the scoring in 7 of its last 9 matches for the Friendly, of these 7 reached the break in advantage in 4 and managed to maintain the advantage until the end of the 90 ‘in 5. There is 1 period that stands out in the last 11 home matches for all competitions: they have suffered 3 of their 7 goals between minutes (46’-60 ‘).
Peru, even in the defeats it had in the friendlies played this year, has been presenting good football, played equal matches against France, Holland and Germany and comes from 2 good performances, even winning the strong selection of Chile, but now has a calmer challenge ahead, arriving as a big favorite. The team is characterized by a good balance between the offensive and defensive sectors, being a team that defends well, leaves few spaces in its defense, but still manages to push and create scoring opportunities, usually in fast exits and betting on the speed from its extremes. At home, he is acting very well, since he beat his last 7 friendlies. This year comes from 3 consecutive victories, in which he scored 7 goals and suffered none, despite having faced teams of great quality, such as Chile and Croatia, finalist of the 2018 World Cup. For the game against Ecuador, coach Ricardo Gareca must keep the team in a 4-5-1, with 3 offensive midfielders, who support the forward all the time, and 2 more defensive, guarding the defense.
Ecuador:
This is the visitor’s 5th friendly match of the year, after previous friendlies in which they registered the following results: Oman (0-0) Ecuador, Qatar (4-3) Ecuador, Ecuador (2-0) Guatemala and Ecuador (2) -0) Jamaica. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 3 wins, 3 draws and 9 losses in away matches; against 8 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses at their stadium. In the last 5 away matches Ecuador has a draw and 4 losses. Defensive consistency has been one of their best features, as they have only conceded goals in 1 of the last 4 matches, and their offense has scored consistently, as they have scored goals in 3 of the last 4 matches for this competition. In 14 matches, they only got 1 comeback in the 7 games in which they suffered the first goal.
Ecuador fell a lot of performance in recent years, as it failed to qualify for the World Cup, having finished the South American qualifiers in the second-to-last position. In this match he has his first big challenge of 2018, since in the 4 previous friendlies he faced very low quality teams and has surprisingly lost 2 of these games. The visiting team presents problems, both in the offensive and in the defensive sector, since they like to put pressure on the rivals and look for the goal from the beginning, but they end up leaving many spaces in their defense, so much that they recently suffered 4 goals from the modest selection of Qatar, needing to urgently review the way he plays. Playing as a visitor, as in the return match, Ecuador won only 1 of their last 9 friendlies, just against the modest selection of El Salvador, being a team that finds enormous difficulties in this type of situation, because it defends even worse and attacks with little intensity. For the game against Peru, coach Hernán Gómez must keep the 4-3-3 he has been using in the last few days, but a little more defensively, since he is aware of the quality of the Peruvian attack.
