The Honduras vs Ecuador World Cup match will take place this Friday, June 20 (3:00 PM Pacific) at the Arena Baixada in Curitiba. Having both lost their first game in Group E, Honduras and Ecuador will go into this clash knowing that only a win will be enough to keep their chances of qualification alive.
Ecuador will feel very much aggrieved not to have taken at least a point from the Switzerland game, going down to a winner from Haris Seferovic deep into stoppage time.
Honduras, on the other hand, were soundly beaten by the French, and will need to find something more imaginative than the physical approach they adopted in their first game if they are to get anything here.
Honduras Team News
Honduras are likely to make a fair amount of changes to the side that went down 3-0 against Benzema and co. Wilson Palacios is suspended, having picked up a red in the first game, and central defender Victor Bernárdez is also unlikely to feature after picking up a knee injury.
Honduras’ manger Luis Suarez may well choose to play some of his younger and more technically gifted players such as Andy Najar, as he looks to pose a serious threat to the Ecuadorian goal, rather than the containing tactics he has so far unsuccessfully employed.
Ecuador Team News
There’s really not an awful lot that Ecuador coach Reinaldo Rueda needs to change coming into this game. Ecuador put on a decent enough display despite losing against Switzerland, and both the Valencia’s are likely to feature prominently for the South Americans, as they attempt to gain a foothold in what could be an extremely tight battle for second place in a group that should be dominated by the French.
Honduras vs Ecuador Prediction
The sides have drawn in eight of their last 13 meetings, although these have all been friendlies. But man-for-man, Ecuador far outweigh Honduras in terms of match winning capabilities, and as such, you’d expect them to be able to deal with anything the Hondurans have to throw at them. That said, it will be a close affair and will probably be settled by a single goal, with Honduras’ lack of goal threat sure to be the deciding factor. Prediction: Ecuador 1 – 0 Honduras
Honduras vs Ecuador Television
The Honduras vs Ecuador match will be televised on ESPN, ESPN 3 (stream), and Univision
