Peru vs Chile Prediction and Betting Tips: Two tips for Copa America clash

Two former champions battle it out on matchday one of the 2024 Copa America as Peru and Chile face off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

With reigning World Cup winners Argentina and debutants Canada also in Group A, these two sides will be hoping to make a winning start to their respective campaigns on Saturday at 1am (UK time). 

Chile enter this opener as the bookmakers’ favorites, mostly due to their superior quality across the field, but as Peru arrive in the US unbeaten across their last five internationals and with plenty of experience amongst their ranks, they could surprise at this tournament. 

Last meeting in this tournament at the semi-final stage back in 2019, Peru and Chile share plenty of history when it comes to facing each other on the international stage in important matches. 

That’s culminated in Chile enjoying the lion’s share of the success over the past 20 meetings, winning 14 of those matches, with none of the head-to-heads during that period having finished all-square.

That could be a trend that continues here, as Chile enter this tournament with plenty of collective experience under their belts. Claudio Bravo, Mauricio Isla, Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas have all made over 100 appearances for La Roja and each of that quartet featured in their side’s last Copa America victory in 2016.

They also potentially hold an extra psychological edge over their opponents as new manager Ricardo Gareca famously guided Peru to the 2018 World Cup. So far with Chile, he’s delivered two wins against Albania and Paraguay, and his side also looked impressive in a narrow 3-2 defeat to France in Marseille in late March. 

His old team will be desperate to get the better of their former employee, though. As they enter this match unbeaten across their last five matches, Peru shouldn’t be underestimated in this Group A matchup. 

Chile to win to nil is the first pick of the two bets at 2/1 with bet365.

As is usually seen during the opening exchanges of any major football tournament, this match between Peru and Chile should be expected to be a tight, cagey affair. 

Both arrive stateside in healthy recent form, but having kept two clean sheets across their last three and given their obvious firepower in attacking areas, Chile enter as the favourites. 

Additional confidence could also stem from the fact that La Roja beat this opponent 2-0 as recently as October in the pair’s latest World Cup qualifying head-to-head. 

When these two teams take to the field in Texas on Saturday, few players enter with as much experience as Chile’s Eduardo Vargas.

The 34-year-old veteran has enjoyed a stellar international career to date, scoring 42 goals across his 109 previous caps, and with the 2024 Copa America likely to be his last major tournament, expect the current Atletico Mineiro forward to leave his mark on the competition. 

Ahead of this opener, Vargas has struck two goals across his nation’s three warm-up friendly outings and with one of those acting as the game’s first goal, he seems a great selection at 5/1 to repeat that feat against Peru.