After starting the defence of their Copa América title with a 2-0 victory over Canada, Argentina will be seeking to make it two wins out of two. They face Chile at the MetLife Stadium, the same venue at which the same opposition beat them in the Copa América Centenario Final almost exactly eight years ago to the day. The match takes place on June 26 (GMT). This is our Argentina predicted lineup.
Argentina Predicted Lineup Vs Chile
How Argentina Have Lined up Recently
Lionel Scaloni has a star-studded 26-man squad at his disposal, switching between a 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 in recent fixtures, electing to go with the latter on matchday one.
This is, primarily, designed to get the best out of Lionel Messi, by putting in place a solid midfield unit behind him. It also gives him a strike partner who can do all the hard work, making decoy runs and so-forth.
Somewhat surprisingly, Julián Álvarez was given the nod to lead the attack on Thursday. He broke the deadlock and put in a man-of-the-match performance, hence why he’s likely to keep his place despite Lautaro Martínez scoring off the bench in the same fixture.
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Following a Capocannoniere-winning campaign, scoring 24 times as Inter won a 20th Scudetto, Martínez is in red-hot form. He was also on target in friendlies against Costa Rica and Guatemala earlier this year, but Scaloni feels Álvarez fits into this team better.
Elsewhere, in midfield, Leandro Paredes was chosen to partner Rodrigo De Paul. Alexis Mac Allister fits into an auxiliary left-wing position, allowing Ángel Di María to push forward and join the front two.
At the back, Nicolás Otamendi had been a mainstay since his debut in 2009, earning 113 caps, but Premier League duo Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez appear to be first-choice centre-backs going forward. Marcos Acuña and Nahuel Molina are the full-backs with Emiliano Martínez the goalkeeper.
Argentina’s Recent Form and Tactics
Following their 2-0 victory over Canada, Argentina have now lost only two of their 40 competitive fixtures since defeat in the 2019 Copa América semi-finals. Their sole defeats during these five years came against Saudi Arabia at the World Cup and when Uruguay visited La Bombonera for a qualifier last November.
Since the latter, la Albiceleste have won six on the spin, scoring 14 goals and conceding only twice. They are heavy favourites to beat Chile in East Rutherford.
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Scaloni’s side dominate the ball, ending Thursday night with 65% possession. They have averaged 67.27% possession across their 15 fixtures since the World Cup Final, even if a few friendlies against inferior CONCACAF opposition does skew that data slightly.
Nevertheless, expect that trend to continue at MetLife Stadium against a Chilean side who will be comfortable defending deep, seeking to frustrate.
Argentina Injuries to Consider
Enzo Fernández didn’t feature at all against Canada, which was something of a surprise, considering he’d played 34 minutes against Ecuador and 71 against Guatemala in pre-tournament friendlies earlier this month.
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Prior to that, though, he’d not featured since April 23 for club side Chelsea following groin surgery. Scaloni is cautious to ensure that his star midfielder is ready to go for the knockout stages, so the £100 million player will likely miss out on a start again.
Argentina Predicted Lineup
GK: Emiliano Martínez
RB: Nahuel Molina
CB: Cristian Romero
CB: Lisandro Martínez
LB: Marcos Acuña
CM: Leandro Paredes
CM: Rodrigo De Paul
RM: Ángel Di María
LM: Alexis Mac Allister
ST: Lionel Messi
ST: Julián Álvarez
