Colon vs Junior Predictions

Thursday’s Copa Sudamericana round of 16, second leg action sees Argentines Colon de Santa Fe going up against Colombians Junior. The hosts will be looking to come back from the 1-0 margin of defeat they suffered in the first leg.

It was always like to be a tie settled by fine margins and just a single goal down after a difficult trip to Barranquilla, Colon are still well in it and will be hopeful of advancing to the quarter-finals. Having already seen off Zamora and Brazilian giants Sao Paulo, Los Sabaleros have looked strong in the competition so far and will be desperate to keep their continental run going on Thursday.

Having lost 3 of their last 4 outings, Colon don’t arrive in the best of shapes but all 3 of said defeats have came on the road to tricky opponents in the form of Independiente, Boca and Junior themselves and having won 3-1 last time out at the Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López against Godoy Cruz, confidence should still be high going into Thursday’s game.

Meanwhile, Junior arrive happy to be in the lead but perhaps a little disappointed their advantage is not more of a substantial one. 4 matches unbeaten across all competitions and currently 5th in the domestic table, Los Tiburones are running along in decent enough shape but their away form has to go down as a real concern coming into this trip.

Indeed, the Colombians have not won any of their last 5 away matches and have lost 3 of said outings. Despite making it through their tie with Colon’s compatriots Lanus, in the last round, they also lost their trip to Argentine soil by a 1-0 margin meaning that overall, Julio Comesana’s troops cannot be regarded as a real force on enemy territory.

Ultimately, we do not regard this tie as being over and rank Colon’s chances of fighting back as being quite high. Under Eduardo Dominguez over the last year, Colon have been quite a powerful force in front of their own fans and with Junior in less than convincing shape as visitors, the hosts will be hopeful of turning the tie around.

All things considered, we think it’ll be another tight affair but backing Colon to win looks to provide good value and is where our money is going. Junior’s last 3 away defeats have been by 1-0 margins and we think they’ll lose by that scoreline again, meaning the tie will have to be settled on penalties.