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Ecuador resume their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on Thursday as they take on Venezuela at the Estadio de Liga Deportiva Universitaria.
The hosts are third in the CONMEBOL qualifying standings, only behind Brazil and Argentina. They were held to a goalless draw by Colombia in their previous outing and are winless in their last two games, though they managed to record a 3-2 win over Mexico in a friendly fixture last month.
Venezuela are in last place in the qualifying campaign as they have just two wins to their name. After a 2-1 win over Ecuador, they suffered a 3-0 loss against Chile in their previous outing.
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Ecuador vs Venezuela Head-to-Head
The two teams have squared off 29 times across all competitions. The fixture has been evenly contested between the two, though Ecuador have a 13-11 advantage in terms of wins. Five games in this fixture have ended in a stalemates.
This will be the third meeting between the two sides this year. Their first encounter in the Copa America group stage ended in a 2-2 draw, while Venezuela managed to record a 2-1 win. Goals from Darwin Machís and Eduard Bell helped them complete a comeback.
Ecuador form guide (all competitions): W-D-L-W-L
Venezuela form guide (World Cup qualifiers): L-W-L-L-L
Ecuador vs Venezuela Team News
Ecuador
A total of 23 players have been called up to the squad for two World Cup qualifying fixtures but some key players will be missing from the starting XI in the game against Venezuela.
Angel Mena, Michael Estrada, Pervis Estupinan and Diego Palacios are suspended after picking up two yellow cards last month. There are no known injury concerns for La Tri for this game.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Angel Mena, Michael Estrada, Pervis Estupinan, Diego Palacios
Venezuela
A total of 25 players have been called up to the squad for the games against Ecuador and Peru, but only 19 of them trained as of Tuesday. The rest of the players are expected to join up with the squad ahead of the game.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Ecuador vs Venezuela Predicted XI
Ecuador Predicted XI (3-4-3): Alexander Dominguez; Robert Arboleda, Fernando Leon, Piero Hincapie; Angelo Preciado, Joao Joshimar Rojas, Moises Caicedo, Robert Arboleda; Gonzalo Plata, Enner Valencia, Bryan Angulo
Venezuela Predicted XI (4-4-2): Wuilker Farinez; Rosales, Chancellor, Nahuel Ferraresi, Alexander Gonzalez; Oscar Gonzalez, Tomas Rincon, Jose Martinez, Yeferson Martinez; Eric Ramirez, Hurtado
Ecuador vs Venezuela Prediction
Ecuador have recently suffered a loss against the visitors and will be looking to avenge that defeat in their home fixture.
Venezuela have struggled to record positive results in the World Cup qualifying fixtures. They could struggle against Ecuador, who have the second-best goal-scoring record in the qualifying campaign.
We predict a narrow win for the home side.
Prediction: Ecuador 2-1 Venezuela
