Junior vs Colon Predictions

Thursday’s Copa Sudamericana round of 16, first leg action sees Colombians Junior doing battle with Argentines Colon. A tight game is expected to be in order but the hosts will be hopeful of establishing an advantage to take to the second leg.

It’s not been a particularly great year for Junior so far, having been knocked out of the Copa Libertadores at the group stage and falling at the quarter-final hurdle of the openish phase domestic play-offs. Nonetheless, having eliminated Lanus in the last round of the Sudamericana and on course to finish comfortably in a play-off position in the closing phase of the Colombian top flight, Los Tiburones are running along fairly well at the moment and will be looking to continue that theme in Thursday’s match.

In a tie that appears tricky to call over two legs, the hosts know they need to make full use of their home advantage in this first leg to avoid leaving themselves with a mountain to climb in Santa Fe. They will be confident in doing exactly that, given that the side have won 7 of their last 8 home matches in front of the home crowd and have long since been regarded as a force to be reckoned with at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez.

Meanwhile, visiting Colon have done extremely well to even reach this point of the competition but will be desperate to continue their continental run. Los Sabaleros breezed past Venezuelans Zamora 3-0 on aggregate in round one but then shocked a strong Sao Paulo side on penalties in a tie they were predicted to lose.

Eduardo Domínguez has done well during his time with Colon and has transformed them into tough competitors both domestically and on the continent. Nonetheless, arriving off the back of a run of just 1 win in 6 and having lost their last two outings on the road, their prospects don’t look the brightest ahead of landing in Colombia.

Ultimately, given that neither outfit typically plays with an expansive style and taking into account what’s at stake, a game of few chances is expected overall with goals likely to be at a premium.

All 4 of Colon’s games in the Sudamericana so far this year have ended with under 2.5 goals, as have 11 of Junior’s last 15 home games and we really like the look of backing said goal line in combination with a Junior win. As mentioned, not a great deal looks to separate the two but Junior are an extremely powerful force on their patch and should be able to edge ahead via a 1-0 margin of victory.