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Steffen Schmidt - July 18, 2023
Emelec vs Sporting Cristal
CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana
Date: 20 July 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 01:00 UK / 02:00 CET
Venue: Estadio George Capwell (Guayaquil).
Emelec picked up a massive 1-0 victory in the first leg of the R32 Copa Sudamericana tie against Peruvian Sporting Cristal seven days ago in Lima.
It was a subpar match with very few goal-scoring chances for either side as the main happenings occurred at the center of the park.
Considering the similar quality between the two outfits, we can expect something similar to happen in the return leg, scheduled for Wednesday evening at Estadio George Capwell in Guayaquil.
Emelec obviously have a big advantage from the first game but we have several important reasons to back the visitors here.
First of all, the hosts had a dismal campaign in the Ecuadorian Primera A Apertura season, finishing it as low as 13th with just 3 wins in 15 matches.
Secondly, they have won only 3 of the last 14 games in all competitions. We can argue that the last week’s victory over Sporting Cristal was not the very much deserved one either.
On the other side, the Peruvian outfit left a great impression in the group phase of Copa Libertadores.
They have pushed the likes of River Plate and Fluminense, two of the continent’s heavyweights, to the limits, finishing the section (group of death) just two points behind them.
Also, Sporting Cristal got off to a phenomenal start to the Clausura campaign in the Peruvian top flight, winning three and drawing one of the opening four outings with a goal difference of 8-2 along the way.
Sporting Cristal certainly have what it takes to leave Ecuador unbeaten and we are more than happy to take the 2.10 odds offered for the double chance pick.
The Under 2.5 goals FT bet is also well worth backing at the attractive 1.95 odds if we know that the first leg did not offer anything in the final third for either outfit.
