Honduras vs Chile Preview and Predictions
Chile ready to take on struggling Honduras
With Spain being the favourites on paper to win Group H, it looks like Chile, Honduras, and Switzerland will be involved in a dog fight to take second and a spot in the next round. Chile will have their chance to rack up three important points on June 16 as they take on the Hondurans at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
If past history is anything to go by, Chile has the edge here as they have beaten Honduras three out of their five previous meetings, but Honduras shouldn’t be taken too lightly as they have enough offensive firepower to pull off an upset against anybody.
However, injuries could be a factor in the game as Chile might be without striker Humberto Suazo, who has 18 goals in 42 games for his country and scored 10 in the qualifying round. Suazo tore a leg muscle in a recent friendly and it’s not certain if he’ll play or not. Coincidentally, Honduran striker David Suazo is also on the mend from a leg-muscle injury and his status is up in the air as well.
If Chile can’t field Suazo, they will be relying on 21-year-old striker Alex Sanchez to fill the void as he has 11 goals in 28 games. Sanchez had a good season in Italy and helped save his club side Udinese from being relegated relegation from Serie A.
Eighteenth-ranked Chile will certainly be without one of their best players as Roma midfielder David Pizarro retired from the squad in 2005 after some bad results and because of some personal reasons.
Meanwhile, 28th-ranked Honduras will be definitely feel the absence of Carlos Costly, who banged in six goals in World Cup qualifying games as he’s out with a broken foot. The team will be looking to Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Wilson Palacios to show some leadership against the Chileans.
Palacios has gone through a lot off the field over the last couple of years and he almost retired from the game after his younger brother Edwin was kidnapped and killed. Midfielder Ramon Nunez adds some experience as he grew up in the USA and played for Dallas of MLS. Striker Carlos Pavon is 36 years old, but can still put the ball in the net as he has scored 57 times in 100 international games for the team record and added seven in qualifying. He’ll also be relied on heavily to play to his potential.
Chile’s Argentinean-born manager Marcelo Bielsa likes to attack and his players respond well to this tactic as they finished second to Brazil in their qualifying group, just one point behind them. Honduras has struggled lately and hasn’t one in their last five games, and has failed to score in four of them. Look for Chile to win this matchup against a hard-working Honduran squad by a score of 2-1.
Chile is second favourites to win the group according to expekt.com, which lists them at 9/2. Honduras is the outsiders to take the group with odds of 40/1. Our prediction is 2-0 for Chile and this pays 6.50 at Sportsbook (US Friendly)
Honduras is listed at 21/4 to beat Chile, while the odds of a draw are 11/4, and Chile to win is 3/5. Best odds from Bodog and SportsInteraction, both accepting US players.
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