Argentina rumored XI, Paulo Dybala, Lisandro Martínez to start

By
Roy Nemer
-
21

Paulo Dybala and Lisandro Martinez are both set to start for Argentina in their World Cup qualifying match against Chile on Thursday.

The two are expected to start the match against Chile as Lionel Messi and Cristian Romero were not selected for the two qualifying matches. When Lionel Messi did not start in the 1-0 win vs. Uruguay in November, it was Paulo Dybala who started that match and got the assist on Angel Di María’s goal.

Lisandro Martínez will be in the starting eleven, his first start for Argentina since the Copa America match against Bolivia. Here is the expected Argentina eleven:

Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez; Molina or Montiel, Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Acuña; De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso; Dybala, Lautaro, Di María

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21 Comments

  1. “There is a lot of anger in the Argentine team because the hotel were they were staying, they were cutting off the water in the hotel, and turning on a siren every half hour, so as not to let the players rest. All of this adds up to last night’s odyssey. “

  4. Ole is reporting that Scaloni is experimenting with a possible alternative line-up:

    Dibu Martinez; Molina, Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Papu Gómez; Di María, Lautaro Martínez y Nico González.

    • The rationale according to them is Tagliafico is better defensively as a LB, Papu is much more match fit than Lo Celso who has not played much for Spurs and Nico Gonzalez brings much more defensive contribution than Dybala.

      • Che… you are right about Papu and Nico but please don’t say Tagliafico is better Defensively than Acuña!! Acuna is a bulldog that is always in the correct position and his awareness is high…. We’re tagliafico is more talented physically but awareness and positioning is always questioned!!
        This is why he lost his starting job to Acuña and quite honestly I have night mares of his overrunning the ball on the tying goal by France in 2018 World Cup.. just horrible transition defense with him 😩

        • It’s not me, it’s as per Ole, although I don’t think Tagliafico is as bad as you say he is. On balance Acuña offers more as a LB, hence he is a starter for us most of the time.

        • Poor Tagliafico was just following the orders given to him by Sampaoli! He is a far better LB than we give him credit for. He is actually a CB turned into LB that is why his defensive skills are better than his offensive game. I understand your frustration, but if ever Argentina had to park the bus , it was that game especially after leading 2-1, even Biesla would have gone defensive in a knockout match against the strongest team in the competition.

  6. What is the Chile line up? I can’t even tell 5 names.

    Ours is a very good line up. We should be able to beat Chile. If our ambition is to win WC and more trophies in future, we better start winning these games without Messi. No pressure, we have already qualified, an aging Chile team, we must win. Vamos!

  8. What concerns me a bit is a lack of midfield subs. I guess Papu and Nico Gonzalez can replace Lo Celso but who is the sub for De Paul? Licha can move to DM if necessary but his replacement at CB won’t be as good. In a way it’s good that we are using 4-4-2 because our options are limited for 4-3-3 right now with injuries and covid. Ocampos, Nico, Angel Correa give as options on the wings.

    • that’s the main problem of Argentina, as of now, there is no player who can compete De Paul and even Paredes. Palacios has potential but not good enough yet and always injured. Guido and Nico Dominguez are both decent at club but I am not sure if their playing style is fit for the national team, the backups in those positions are quite limited in quantity and in quality.

      • I mean specifically for these matches given COVID we are thin in midfield.

        When everybody is fit and healthy then we are ok, Guido played well for us when given a chance, Dominguez is underrated and I think he can shine if an opportunity is provided. Agreed on Palacios, his injury record is terrible.

  9. I like this lineup, even if it looks like we r putting something together because of injuries etc… And we r.
    We r lucky that we have dybala waiting in the trenches for this moment. Majority of teams would be thankful to have a player like dybala coming in due to injuries of the starting lineup. Also, we have papu and Nico ready to come in on the wings and Correa should be fit and ready also. I would like to see the river plate boy getting minutes in these last qualifiers as I think he can make a big difference in the world cup.
    What I’m worried about is our defensive line. We were reluctant to find Romero in good form over the last two years, but if he is injured or suspended during the cup then we need to have two more defenders we can rely on. I am guessing they will be piz and lisandro. Let’s hope they can be reliable.

  10. If we beat chili by this team then it will boost our team more stronger…after so many time we see a strong line up in our team. We miss messi, romero but no matter we have good back up players and bench players also which make a good competition among the players…
    Hope beloved team will win by a good margin InshaAllah…

  12. Great line up… I’m really looking forward to see Dybala RDP and GLC in the link up… I think that’s the best we got right now… Hope to take the three points tonight. It’s not gonna be easy without out captain, but I think the team can make it

    vaaamooos

  13. Dybala is a fine player no doubt but Argentina can’t find a way to use him properly.Argentina need proper LWF.it’s time to see how they play without messi.

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