Banfield vs Defensa y Justicia Predictions

Friday’s Copa Sudamericana round of 16, second leg action sees neighbours Banfield and Defensa y Justicia doing battle once again. It’s all still to play for after a 0-0 draw in the first leg.

Banfield will have been delighted to have escaped from Florencio Varela with parity in tact. El Taladro came under sustained pressure in the first leg as they sat deep behind the ball but a mixture of luck and dogged determination kept the ball out and kept them well in the tie ahead of this clash on home soil.

Banfield arrive in solid, if unspectacular form, having drawn 3 of their last 5 matches whilst winning and losing once. That being said, having lost 3-0 at Huracan prior to failing to beat an Independiente side that played with 10 men for 80 minutes, Julio Cesar Falcioni’s troops don’t bring great momentum with them into Friday’s game and will have to improve significantly to see off what is an impressive Defensa side.

Despite being one of the smallest clubs in the Argentine top flight, as well as in the Sudamericana itself, Defensa continue to punch above their weight, as they have done for several years now. El Halcon currently sit 9th in the domestic table and are yet to lose a match this season, whilst in the Sudamericana they’ve done well to see off America de Cali and El Nacional to reach this point.

Boss Sebastián Beccacece has the team playing some fantastic football at times and with the aim being to dominate the match no matter the opponent, we can expect to see an aggressive game plan from the visitors in the Estadio Florencio Sola. Defensa certainly dominated the first leg, as mentioned above, and whilst they’ll be disappointed not to be travelling with an advantage, they’re still in a good position having not conceded an away goal.

Ultimately, whilst we fully expected Defensa to dominate (and win) the first leg, it should be a close affair this time around, as Banfield are typically a strong force on their home patch and should be able to compete far better than they did in the first leg against what is admittedly a stronger opponent.

Banfield have won 3 of their last 4 home games, illustrating their strength as hosts but that trio of victories came against far weaker opponents than the one they face here. Defensa are unbeaten in 3 away games and that kind of resolve up against Banfield’s relative home strength has us liking the look of backing the draw at a more than reasonable price.

Banfield have drawn 3 of their last 5 outings whilst Defensa have drawn 4 of their last 6 and both sequences look set to be extended. It should be a close game overall but we envisage Defensa advancing via away goals after a 1-1 draw on the night.