Curico Unido vs Cerro Porteno Prediction & Betting Tips - Copa Libertadores

Prediction published on 20/02/2023, 13:16  by Kennedy Kechula in Copa Libertadores Predictions

Debutants Curico Unido of Chile will on Wednesday host the first leg of their Copa Libertadores group-stage second-round qualifier against Cerro Porteno of Paraguay. Both teams received a bye to this round. Unido have started their Primera Division season blowing hot and cold and as a result, they find themselves in 10th place with six points after five rounds of play. Damian Munoz’s men have lost their last two matches, conceding five goals in total while scoring three. All but one of their five league matches have seen over 2.5 goals. Unido are making their Copa Libertadores debut and their form to start the season doesn’t inspire confidence, especially as they are coming up against one of the more seasoned teams in the competition. They will also be forced to move their base for this match and will play at the Monumental Stadium in the capital Santiago, two hours away from Curico due to their home ground not being authorized for continental duels.

Cerro Porteno are the favourites to advance from this round and will be keen to get an early lead in the tie before the return leg a week later in Asuncion. The fact that their opponents can’t use their home ground should be an advantage for Cerro Porteno. However, Porteno have also been plagued by a lack of consistency and come to this match having won two and drawn two of their four league matches to start the season. This has placed them in second place in the table behind rivals Libertad. Their two wins have all come away from home and in both matches, they have managed to keep a clean sheet. None of their four matches has seen over 2.5 goals. Diego Gavilan’s men are regulars on the continental stage but have never gone past the semifinals in either the Libertadores or the Copa Sudamericana.