Copa Libertadores predictions (02/22-23)

[Guerreiro_lu]

MILLIONARIOS (Bogotá COL) - FLUMINENSE (Rio de Janeiro BRA)

The second phase of the repechage for the Copa Libertadores da América 2022 will begin, and with that begins the international season of diversifying great South American teams. On the 22nd, the tricolor carioca travels to Bogotá (Colombia) to face Millionarios at their stadium, El Campín.

The possible lineup of Millionarios Fútbol Club
Alvaro Montero; Andrés Román, Andrés Llinás, Juan Pablo Bargas, Andrés Murillo; Stiven Vega, Larry Vásquez, Eduardo Sosa, David Mackalister Silva, Daniel Ruiz and Diego Herazo
The big question is whether left-back Omar Bertel will be able to recover in time for this match.

The possible lineup of Fluminense Football Club
Fabio; Nino, David Braz, Felipe Melo; Lucas Calegari, André, Yago, Pineida; Luiz Henrique, William Bigode and Fred.


The albiazules are the second team that keeps the ball the most in the Colombian League and holds the record in the number of passes exchanged and has been increasingly managing to impose itself in every game with the consolidation of the work of coach Alberto Gamero, who starts his third season in front of the Colombian club. However, this season, even with an imposing game, the club took a while to get a good sequence of goals, the team suffered a lot with the departure of forwards Uribe and Emerson Rodriguez, two very important names in the winning campaign that Millionaires made in the 2021 Colombian championship. placing second in the aggregate table and being vice-champion in the Apertura tournament.

On the side of the tricolour of Rio de Janeiro, the football played is more reactive and proposes less possession of the ball. Fluminense starts the year with the experienced and highly contested coach Abel Braga, who hasn't done any great work for years. For this year, the team hired several very experienced players to compete in Libertadores, such as Felipe Melo, William Bigode and goalkeeper Fábio (all historic names in Brazilian football, but already in the last seasons before retirement). The team is aiming to repeat the feat of last year when it reached the quarterfinals of the competition, but it has not been presenting the same football. A point that shows how the match will be for the Brazilians is the recent classic won against Flamengo by 1-0, with 2 red cards, 1 goal in the 80th minute (in just 2 shots against the goal throughout the match) and 40% ball possession only.

My bet for this game is

UNDER 2.5 GOALS @1.61 (bet365)

I believe that this match will have a more closed score, with a team that is rebuilding itself offensively and another that has a more reactive game model.

 

[Guerreiro_lu]

Barcelona (Guayaquil ECU) - Universitario (Lima PER)


After going through the struggle against Montevideo City Torque, the Barcelona team from Guayaquil finds itself in a much calmer situation in the second phase of the Copa Libertadores repechage, now their rival is much weaker than the previous one and is focused on their league national.
Universitario (with the main players) lost yesterday to Carlos Steyn in Lambayeque, now they fly to Ecuador, then return to Lima to face Cesar Vallejo (both matches in the Peruvian championship are very important to guarantee Universitario at the top of the table) and in the same city faces the return game against Barcelona. That will be a big headache for Álvaro Gutiérrez, the coach of the Peruvian team

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Probable Barcelona lineup

Javier Burrai; Byron Castillo, Darío Aimar, Luca Sosa, Leonel Quiñónez; Bruno Piñatares, Leonai Souza, Emmanuel Martínez, Erick Castillo (Penilla); Damián Diáz and Gonzalo Mastriani.


Probable Universitario lineup

Jose Carvalho, Nelson Cabanillas, Aldo Corzo, Nelinho Quinam, Federico Alonso; Piero Quispe, Ángel Cayetano, Gerson Barreto; Luis Urruti, Joao Villamarín, Alex Valera.
The Peruvian team will suffer from the absence of the important Alberto Quintero for this game. The Panamanian received the red card in the last game of the group stage of the previous campaign against Palmeiras. The foul committed by the forward was enough for Conmebol to punish him with two games.


Although not playing like last year, Barcelona is favoured for this match. Since the beginning of the year, Barcelona only failed to score a goal in the second game against Montevideo City Torque. Universitario has not had ANY GAMES WITH LESS THAN 3 GOALS since AUGUST last year.

My bet for this game is
OVER 2.5 GOALS @2.00 (bet365)

In the last 5 matches of Universitario de Deportes as a visitor, in 100% of them, the match had more than 2.5 goals and the Barcelona team grows a lot when they play as the home team at Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo.