The South American World Cup Qualifying group's two bottom nations will square off in the fifth round of fixtures on Thursday, as Bolivia welcome Peru to La Paz.

The hosts are without a point from their four matches thus far, while their visitors are on the back of three straight defeats and just a single point better off.

Match preview

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In their bid to reach the World Cup group stage for the first time since 1994, Bolivia have again experienced a difficult start to qualifying in the South American group, as they are currently rooted to the bottom of the table after four matches, having failed to pick up a point.

That is in no small part down to their poor defensive record, with La Verde having already conceded 11 goals thus far, five more than the group's second worse defence, as they began with a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Brazil, with Victor Abrego's second-half finish nothing more than a consolation as Rodrygo and Neymar hit braces for the hosts alongside a Raphinha goal.

A meeting with world champions Argentina then followed, and Bolivia were comfortably beaten again, with Enzo Fernandez, Nicolas Tagliafico and Nicolas Gonzalez helping themselves to goals in a 3-0 away triumph, and on their return to action last month, on the back of that admittedly unenviable starting schedule, La Verde were unable to bounce back.

They looked set to take a first point from a 1-1 draw at home to Ecuador, thanks to Rodrigo Ramallo's 83rd-minute equaliser, only to be condemned to another defeat as Kevin Rodriguez scored the decisive goal six minutes into injury time, before most recently falling to a 1-0 loss away at Paraguay, with Antonio Sanabria hitting the only goal in the 69th minute.

Since that fourth straight loss, Gustavo Costas's tenure as national team manager has come to an end, and now under the new leadership of Antonio Carlos Zago, Bolivia will be desperate to put their poor start behind them and begin climbing the group with a first win on Thursday.

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In their way stand a Peru side who are also hoping to kickstart their qualifying campaign on the back of a tough start, in their bid to return to the world stage after last making the World Cup group stage in 2018.

From their first four matches, Los Incas have only managed a single point while having not yet scored a goal, as their only draw thus far came in the form of a goalless stalemate with Paraguay in the curtain-raiser.

Since then, Juan Reynoso's side have been unable to fix their attacking issues or see out any clean sheets to compensate, having firstly been harshly beaten 1-0 by Brazil with the winning goal coming from Marquinhos in injury time.

On the back of that late heartbreak, Peru returned to action with the aim of improving last month, but they were unable to add a first notch to the wins column or even a point or goal, firstly losing 2-0 away at Chile before Argentina beat them by the same scoreline in Lima with Lionel Messi netting a first-half brace.

Now already five points outside of the top five after just four rounds of games, Peru will be desperate to bounce back this month and keep pace with the leaders with improved results in their upcoming meetings with Bolivia and Venezuela.

Team News

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Bolivia's attack should again be led by talismanic veteran Marcelo Moreno, who leads his nation's all-time goals and appearance charts with 31 and 104 respectively.

In a 5-3-2 shape, he could again be joined up front by Rodrigo Ramallo, who boasts seven goals of his own for La Verde, while Moises Villarroel, Danny Bejarano and Henry Vaca will all hope to keep their places in midfield amid competition from Leonel Justiniano and Ramiro Vaca.

Jose Sagredo is a mainstay in the middle of the defence, and he will likely be joined by Luis Haquin and either Hector Cuellar or Jairo Quinteros, while Guillermo Viscarra should again get the nod over 36-year-old Carlos Lampe between the sticks.

Juan Reynoso has again called on a Peru squad filled with experience, and captain Paolo Guerrero will continue to lead the line as they look to end their goal drought, having notched up 39 goals in his 113 caps.

He should be supported through the centre by Andre Carrillo, while Celta Vigo's Renato Tapia will hope to return from the outset and rejoin long-term midfield partner Yoshimar Yotun.

Reynoso should also go with experience at the back, with right-back Luis Advincula boasting 113 caps, while Carlos Zambrano should join Luis Abram in the middle of the defence.

Bolivia possible starting lineup:
Viscarra; Medina, Quinteros, Sagredo, Haquin, Fernandez; Villarroel, Justiniano, Bejarano; Ramallo, Moreno

Peru possible starting lineup:
Gallese; Advincula, Zambrano, Abram, Trauco; Polo, Yotun, Tapia, Zanelatto; Carrillo; Guerrero

We say: Bolivia 1-1 Peru

On the back of poor starts to the qualifying campaign, both nations will see Thursday's contest as a good opportunity to get up and running with a first win, but with the visitors perhaps boasting more quality and the hosts often faring well in La Paz, despite their recent results on home soil, we see a share of the points as the most likely outcome this week.


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