Erstwhile tournament leaders Ecuador (4-3-1, 13 points) are set to face reigning Copa America champions Chile (3-3-2, 11 points) at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito on Thursday, Oct. 6 as Matchday 9 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup CONMEBOL qualifiers gets underway.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 4:00 p.m. UTC-5. It can be viewed live Online Thru FuboTV..
Ecuador has held the top spot of the qualifying tournament's overall standings during the first few weeks of competitions after winning their first four matches. Then a draw with Paraguay in Matchday 5 snapped their winning run.
From there, La Tricolor is now on a three-game losing slide which dropped the team to the fifth spot of the CONMEBOL table. Only the top four teams at the end of the tourney will outright qualify to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Head coach Gustavo Quinteros' side is coming off a stunning 1-2 defeat to lowly club Peru at the Estadio Nacional in Lima on Sep. 6, as per ESPN.
Peru winger Christian Cueva opened the scoring with a penalty kick at the 19th before Ecuador defender Gabriel Achilier leveled the count at the 31st to reach the halftime break tied at 1-1.
However, the hosts netted the winning goal at the 78th, courtesy of a strike from midfielder Renato Tapia to hand the Yellows their third consecutive loss.
Meanwhile, had continued its struggles in the World Cup qualifiers after dominating the Copa America Centenario last June.
La Roja was held by lowly squad Bolivia to a 0-0 draw on Sep. 6 at their own home stadium of Estadio Monumental David Arellano in Santiago for their fifth winless game in the tourney, Goal reported.
Chile is now at the seventh spot of the 10-team table, but they still have a chance of instantly advancing to the World Cup if they can string better performances in the second half of the qualifiers.
The qualifying tournament will last 18 matchdays and this game is part of the ninth matchday.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a close 2-1 win by Chile.
Ecuador starting lineup (4-2-2-2 formation): Dominguez; A. Valencia, Mina, Achilier, Erazo; Martinez, Noboa; Ibarra, Arroyo; E. Valencia, Caicedo
Chile starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Bravo; Isla, Jara, Roco, Mena; Aranguiz, Valdivia, Vidal; Pinilla, Vargas, Sanchez