Racing Club Avellaneda vs Atlético Nacional Prediction & Betting Tips - Copa Libertadores

Prediction published on 09/08/2023, 13:30  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 09/08/2023 at 13:36 in Copa Libertadores Predictions

The second leg in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores will see Racing Club play host to Atletico Nacional on Friday. The visitors currently lead 4-2, and the winner of the tie will go on to face either Nacional or Boca Juniors in the quarter-finals. Racing looked like they were going to end up on the wrong side of a much heftier defeat in the first leg despite being the more dominant side for the most part of the match. The Argentine side had 71% of the possession in the match and took 17 shots at goal but were 3-0 down with under 10 minutes to play. Two late goals by Gonzalo Piovi saw them maintain some respectability on the scoreline and ultimately kept them in the tie. That loss was their second in the space of a week, following a 2-1 defeat to River Plate in the league, which saw them end the first phase of the Primera Division in 12th place and nine points behind the top four teams. Racing recorded nine wins, nine draws, and nine losses in the league. However, on their home patch and based on their dominance in the first leg, apart from the scoreline, Racing are heavily fancied to win this match. 

Meanwhile, Atletico Nacional have gotten themselves into a very solid position and will be fairly confident that they can defend a two-goal advantage. Maximiliano Cantera, Cristian Zapata, and Jefferson all got on the scoresheet in the last match, and if they get the first goal in this one, the tie could be all over for the hosts. However, they will know that nothing can be taken for granted as they were outplayed in almost every aspect last week and should be expecting Racing to come flying out the blocks in search of an early goal. Atletico Nacional come into this match off the back of a 1-1 draw against Deportivo Cali, which took them to five points in the league with two draws and a win in their three matches so far. That result also extended their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions. The visitors finished second in the qualifying group behind Olimpia and were one of the biggest outsiders at the start of the knockout round. They are 6/1 outsiders again in this match, but that certainly shouldn’t be seen as them having no chance of pulling off another upset in this one.