Please, try again later
Thursday’s Copa Sudamericana second round, second leg action sees Colombians Deportes Tolima doing battle with Argentinos Juniors. All is certainly still to play for, with the visitors bringing a narrow 1-0 lead to the Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro.
After dropping out of a Copa Libertadores group containing Boca Juniors, Athletico PR and Jorge Wilstermann despite picking up a respectable 8 points, Deportes Tolima had hoped for better luck now that they’re in the Sudamericana. Nonetheless, a 1-0 defeat in Buenos Aires leaves them with work to do if they are to advance from the tie, but the side will still fancy their chances.
Overall, Tolima have looked a solid outfit so far in 2019. They advanced to the play-off stage of the opening phase of their domestic top flight and are currently top of their group within it, so confidence can be pretty high coming into the game. They’ve also remained unbeaten in 3 continental home games this year, beating Athletico PR and drawing with Boca in the process, results that suggest they have every chance of getting the job done on Thursday.
Indeed, Argentinos Juniors’ name does not carry the same weight as the sides mentioned and though the Argentines will be happy to have established a lead in the first leg, they’ll know they have a huge amount of work left to do to see it through, given how slender it is.
Argentinos aren’t a particularly powerful outfit, finishing 26th in the Superliga Argentina but they have at least improved in recent weeks, reaching the semi-finals of the Copa de la Superliga. Nonetheless, said feat could actually be their downfall for this game, as they arrive tired to Colombian soil, having lost an intense two legged affair with Boca prior to making the gruelling trip to Ibague.
Ultimately, this is a tie that is far from over and if anything, Tolima are still probably slightl favourites to advance. Man for man, they are a touch stronger than Argentinos on paper and with the crowd behind them, they should be able to put the visitors under pressure and try to mount a comeback.
All things considered, backing a home win looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going. Tolima are unbeaten in 6 continental home games overall and that’s a sequence we can see them prolonging, with a 1-0 margin of victory that would force penalties looking on the cards.