El Nacional vs Aucas Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Sunday’s Ecuadorian Primera Division action sees El Nacional playing host to Aucas. The home side will be looking to claim a crucial three points in front of their own fans.

After finishing the second phase of last season in second place, hopes were high in El Nacional ranks coming into the new season, but El Rojo simply haven’t managed to hit similar heights, currently languishing down in 8th place after taking just 23 points from 19 outings.

The hosts have taken just 1 point from their last 3 matches and could well be dragged into a relegation battle in the second half of the campaign if they don’t perform well in the remaining three games of the opening phase. Nonetheless, confidence can at least be taken from recent showings at the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, where the team are 4 matches unbeaten, 3 of which wins.

Meanwhile, Aucas are also struggling upon their return to the top flight and currently sit 1 place and 1 point behind El Nacional themselves. Little more than consolidation was the target for Los Orientales at the start of the season and whilst they’re on course for exactly that, they’ll want to keep their heads above relegation water by picking up three points with more regularity.

Indeed, the visitors have won just 4 of their 19 league outings, drawing a remarkable 10 times. Luis Soler’s troops are in poor form, winning none of their last 6 games, failing to even so much as notch in the last two and a return to the road, where just 1 win in 10 has been claimed, hardly has hopes high of ending their poor streak.

Overall this should be quite a tight game, as is the norm when Aucas are involved. It’s an important match for both parties, with the victor pulling away from the loser and we’re unlikely to see too many chances at either end as a result.

Nonetheless, you do have to fancy El Nacional to edge the contest and we’re more than happy to back them to do exactly that. They’ve been in great shape in front of their own fans recently and have enough about them to dispatch of an Aucas outfit that is far from inspiring on the road, with a 1-0 margin of victory on the cards, a scoreline well worth having a play on in addition to our main tip for the match.