
Colombia vs Costa Rica Prediction and Betting Tips: Three bets for Friday night Copa America clash

Colombia and Costa Rica returned positive results in their opening Copa America Group D games and will now face each other in the oppressive heat of Arizona on Friday.
The match kicks off at 3pm local time at State Farm Stadium where the temperature is forecast to be 42 degrees centigrade.
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Colombia made a hot start to the tournament as they raced into a two-goal half-time lead against Paraguay before extending their win streak to nine with a 2-1 victory.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica battled hard to earn a point against Brazil with a 0-0 draw.
Colombia vs Costa Rica Tips
Costa Rica recorded their fourth clean sheet in a row thanks to a trio of smart saves from goalkeeper Patrick Sequira, but they rarely troubled the Brazilian defence at SoFi Stadium.
The Ticos failed to muster a shot in the entire first half and neither of their efforts on goal after the break were on target.
The 0-0 draw mirrored their last result against a CONMEBOL side which was when they played out a dull stalemate against a weakened Uruguay line-up earlier this month.
Colombia’s defence was breached by Paraguay when Davinson Sanchez failed to cut out a cross and Julio Enciso hooked home a smart back-post finish in Houston.
That being said, Nestor Lorenzo’s side are usually pretty solid at the back — as they demonstrated when keeping Spain out at the London Stadium in March off the back of four clean sheets in six World Cup qualifying matches.
Both teams can be dangerous on the counter-attack and that may result in a tactically turgid affair for long periods. However, Colombia’s nine-match winning sequence shows they usually find a way to get a goal — whether from a set piece or an overload out wide — and they should have enough quality in attack to ensure a win with a clean sheet.
The referee for the game at State Farm Stadium is one of the least experienced at the Copa America.
Gustavo Tejera, 36, will make his senior tournament debut having gained international experience at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, CONMEBOL Under-20 Championship and pre-Olympic tournament.
He has been the man in the middle for only one World Cup qualifying game and dished out seven yellow cards in Paraguay’s 1-0 win over Bolivia.
This will be a huge occasion for him and it has often been found that less experienced officials reach for their pocket sooner than established referees.
Tejera has shown more than 4.5 cards in five of his last eight international appointments and looks good to do the same in this clash.
Colombia spread their goals around and the team do not rely on one particular player to pop up in the penalty area, so it is tricky to nominate an anytime goalscorer option for them at the moment.
Attacking substitutes may be in a better position to make the breakthrough than the starters given they will be coming on fresh against defenders that will have laboured in the heat for over an hour.
But one man who has been constantly threatening to score when in a Colombia shirt is winger Luis Diaz.
The Liverpool star has attempted more shots than anyone else in South American World Cup qualifying with his 25 total efforts being eight more than even the great Lionel Messi has managed for Argentina.
He is averaging 4.44 shots per 90 minutes, which is even more than the 3.05 shots per game he produced for Liverpool this season.
In a game that Colombia should dominate, Diaz will probably get opportunities to fire off efforts on goal and, given he only recorded two against Paraguay, he will no doubt be looking to take every opportunity he can on Friday.
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