Independiente vs Fortaleza Predictions

• Independiente have won just 1 of their last 7 games.
• Independiente have failed to score in 4 of said fixtures.
• Fortaleza are unbeaten so far in 2020, winning 3 of their 5 matches in the process.
• Fortaleza have conceded just once over said fixtures

Independiente arrive under big pressure

It’s fair to say Independiente don’t start their continental campaign in the best of moods. Though the team have aspirations of winning the competition they claimed in 2017, they are playing poorly at the moment and come into Friday’s game under big pressure from the fans after they lost 1-0 away at arch rivals Racing Club over the weekend; despite playing most of the match with a two man advantage.

Currently 14th in the Superliga Argentina, El Rojo are falling well below expectations and bring little momentum into this tie. Indeed, they’ve now won just 1 of their last 7 fixtures and having failed to even so much as score in 4 of said outings, it’s not hard to see where problems are coming from.

Fortaleza desperate to impress

Meanwhile, it’s a huge night for Fortaleza as they play their first ever match in continental competition, with the backing of over 4,000 travelling supporters from Brazil. Rogerio Ceni’s troops were only promoted to Serie A last season but pieced together a strong campaign that now gives them a chance to impress on the big stage.

Having kept almost all of their 2019 squad together, Fortaleza have a settled group and performances in 2020 so far have been impressive, leaving confidence high prior to arrival in Buenos Aires. Indeed, the side are unbeaten in 5 matches, winning 3 times in the process and having conceded just once over said fixtures, they’ll be hopeful of frustrating Independiente.

No improvement likely for Independiente 

Ultimately, given the manner in which they are playing, this tie looks a tricky one for Indpendiente despite them being labelled as favourites in it and Fortaleza will be confident in knocking them out over the two legs. The Brazilians are a strong outfit themselves and are only the team that bring any kind of momentum into the clash.

All things considered, we see excellent value in backing Fortaleza on the Double Chance line on Friday and feel they’ll be able to take home a positive result with them. Independiente are big favourites according to the odds but in poor shape and facing a Fortaleza side that is very hard to break down, we can’t picture them winning and think that a goalless stalemate could well be on the cards.