Cruzeiro vs River Plate Predictions

Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores round of 16, second leg action sees Brazilians Cruzeiro going up against Argentines River Plate. All is still to play for after a 0-0 first leg draw but the competition holding visitors will still be confident in booking their place in the quarter final.

Whilst there’s no doubting Cruzeiro were extremely lucky to escape from Buenos Aires with parity in tact, the result leaves them with an increased chance of advancing. Raposa survived wave after wave of River attack and a missed penalty but managed to hold on and will now be looking for a more attack minded performance in this second leg.

Nonetheless, confidence cannot be too high in home ranks coming into the game and the side remain in crisis on and off the field. On the pitch, they’ve won just 1 of their last 16 games and lie 1 point above the relegation zone in Serie A, whilst off the pitch, key board members remain under the microscope of both fans and police amid allegations of money laundering.

Meanwhile, River arrive kicking themselves not to have won the first leg given the manner in which they dominated it. Marcelo Gallardo’s troops did everything but score in said match and will be aiming to find their goalscoring touch here in Belo Horizonte, with booking a place in the quarter finals a huge priority as they strive to defend the crown they won last year.

River certainly have no reason to be apprehensive ahead of making the trip to Brazil, as they’ve been an extremely formidable outfit on the road over the last couple of years in the Libertadores. Indeed, the side are unbeaten in 10 matches on the road in the competition and having scored an average of 1.8 goals a game during their last 5 away matches in it, they’ll be confident in finding at least one crucial away goal pn Tuesday.

Ultimately, although River have slightly complicated the tie with the first leg draw, they’ll still be expecting to win and look well placed to do so. Cruzeiro have looked a very weak side in recent months and little suggests they’ll be able to hold off the Argentines once again this week.

All things considered, backing River Plate on the Draw No Bet line looks the way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going. Cruzeiro haven’t even scored in their last 5 matches and that makes it hard to see why they are priced as favourites for the clash. It’s likely to be a tight game given what’s at stake but we believe River could well run out 1-0 winners.