Mexico vs Uruguay Match Analysis and Prediction

2 years ago 349

Mexico and Uruguay will have an encounter in a friendly match on Friday at State Farm Stadium in Arizona, with both teams regarded as stingy defensive units.

The hosts have only conceded once in their previous seven matches across all competitions, while Uruguay have three clean sheets in their four games played this year.

Gerardo Martino’s side are getting set to make an eighth successive appearance at the World Cup later this year, as they aim to move beyond the last 16 for the first time since 1986.

El Tri have a busy summer of preparation before travelling to Qatar, with three friendlies and two CONCACAF Ntions League matches in between now and the end of August.

Mexico surprisingly made it to the finals, finishing second in the Octagon, but how they did it was very different from how it was expected.

They scored a goal or fewer in 11 of their 14 qualifiers, winning five of their eight games by a single goal, in a campaign that was heavily scrutinized by the Mexican media.

Meanwhile, despite a weak 2021 summer of World Cup qualifying which saw Uruguay go winless in four of their five games, they managed to turn things around, finishing third in the CONMEBOL table on 28 points.

Diego Alonso and his side had their tough qualifiers out of their way by the end of last year, losing two matches to Brazil and two to Argentina.

Uruguay took full advantage of the weaker South American teams in 2022, winning all four of their qualifiers played this year, progressing to the finals for a third consecutive time.

Alonso came in to turn the Uruguayans into a more aggresive unit, and they have recently come out more determined with 23 efforts on target in their final four qualifying matches this year.

Mexico vs Uruguay head to head

The two national teams have previously met on 11 occasions across all competitions, where they have claimed four victories each while they have drawn in three. Both sides have scored 15 goals each in the process. In their last five meetings, Uruguay have won three while Mexico have won two.

Uruguay 1-3 Mexico 15/07/07

Mexico 0-1 Uruguay 22/06/10

Uruguay 1-0 Mexico 13/07/11

Mexico 3-1 Uruguay 06/06/16

Mexico 1-4 Uruguay 08/09/18

Mexico latest home form

Mexico have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their seven most recent matches. They managed to defeat Nigeria 2-1 in their last home game in a friendly match. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded just one.

Mexico 1-0 Panama 03/02/22

Mexico 0-0 United States 25/03/22

Mexico 2-0 El Salvador 31/03/22

Mexico 0-0 Guatemala 28/04/22

Mexico 2-1 Nigeria 29/05/22

Mexico latest away form

Mexico have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having won each of their two most recent matches. They defeated Honduras 1-0 in their last away game in the World Cup Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded five.

El Salvador 0-2 Mexico 14/10/21

United States 2-0 Mexico 13/11/21

Canada 2-1 Mexico 17/11/21

Jamaica 1-2 Mexico 28/01/22

Honduras 0-1 Mexico 28/03/22

Uruguay latest home form

Uruguay have recently been on a good run of form at home, having lost just one of their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Peru 1-0 in their last home game in the World Cup Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded four.

Uruguay 1-0 Ecuador 10/09/21

Uruguay 0-0 Colombia 08/10/21

Uruguay 0-1 Argentina 13/11/21

Uruguay 4-1 Venezuela 02/02/22

Uruguay 1-0 Peru 25/03/22

Uruguay latest away form

Uruguay have recently been on an upturn in form on the road, having won each of their two most recent matches. They managed to defeat Chile 2-0 in their last away game in the World Cup Qualifiers. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded 10.

Argentina 3-0 Uruguay 11/10/21

Brazil 4-1 Uruguay 15/10/21

Bolivia 3-0 Uruguay 16/11/21

Paraguay 0-1 Uruguay 28/01/22

Chile 0-2 Uruguay 30/03/22

Mexico news

Santiago Gimenez scored his second goal for Mexico in their victory over Nigeria at the weekend, with the winner coming from an own-goal by William Troost-Ekong.

Meanwhile, Guillermo Ochoa needs to play in two more games to draw even with Jorge Campos for the most international caps among Mexican goalkeepers.

Uruguay news

Luis Suarez played a big part of the Uruguayan qualification campaign, scoring eight goals for his country, though he was not selected for this contest.

Sergio Rochet seems to be the preferred choice in goal for head coach Alonso of late, with the Nacional keeper collecting three clean sheets for Uruguay this year.

Prediction and Odds

These two national teams are compact defensive units that are well organised and difficult to break down, making this one a tightly-contested match.

However, we believe that Uruguay will have a slight edge in variety of categories, including experience and individual quality, and we back them to come away with a win.

Odds: 1 2.30 X 2.05 2 2.20