We said: Ecuador 2-1 Venezuela
There is not an awful lot to choose between these two sides, and we are expecting a close match on Saturday. It would not be a surprise to see a draw, but we are just backing Ecuador to have enough to navigate their way to a vital victory in their opening match of what is shaping up to be a fascinating competition.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Ecuador win with a probability of 47.5%. A draw had a probability of 29.2% and a win for Venezuela had a probability of 23.28%.
The most likely scoreline for a Ecuador win was 1-0 with a probability of 16.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.23%) and 2-1 (8.09%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (12.84%), while for a Venezuela win it was 0-1 (10.14%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 5.1% likelihood.