Thursday's international football predictions: Uruguay should power past Peru

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Thursday's international matches.

Where to watch

Uruguay v Peru Premier Sports 2
11.30pm Thursday

Best bets

Uruguay to win & under 3.5 goals
2pts 20-21 BoyleSports

Serbia 6.30pm Thursday
1pt 11-10general

Preview

Uruguay have been making seriously hard work of securing a World Cup berth but they look solid favourites to defeat qualification rivals Peru in Montevideo.

La Celeste have been involved at each of the last three World Cup finals but the road to Qatar has come down to the wire with a maximum of four more points needed to guarantee automatic qualification.

A lack of consistency has plagued the Uruguayan campaign, but they are fourth with two fixtures remaining and could finish the job with a game to spare if they beat fifth-placed Peru and sixth-placed Chile fail to win in Brazil.

However, a loss to Peru would see Diego Alonso's side drop out of the top four while a draw could leave them vulnerable because they still have to face Chile in Santiago next Tuesday.

Given the quality in Uruguay's squad it should never have got this tight but they were successful in the February qualifiers, winning in Paraguay and at home to Venezuela, and they should have too much quality and experience for Peru.

Reaching Russia 2018 was a huge achievement for Peru but their efforts to qualify for Qatar have been hampered by a lack of firepower.

The Incas are the lowest scorers among the top six and could struggle to make an impact against Uruguay, who are likely to clinch a low-scoring success.

Fast-improving Serbia could be potential dark horses in Qatar and their preparations can continue with a friendly victory over Hungary in Budapest.

The Serbians make the short trip without injured Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, but they should be happy to rely on in-form Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic to lead the line.

Dragan Stojkovic's team are strong in all areas and should have the edge over a hard-working but functional Hungary, who were never seriously close to challenging England and Poland for a top two finish in qualifying Group I.

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