Lanus vs Zulia Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Lanus meet Zulia in the third set of games in Group 7 of the Copa Libertadores; with the race for qualification wide open. All four sides currently have one win and one loss. Lanus’ continental quest got off to a rocky start with a home defeat to Nacional, but they’ve pulled themselves back into contention with a 3-1 win over Chapecoense in Brazil. Meanwhile, Zulia’s first ever continental match against the same opponent ended in a 2-1 defeat, but they made up for that with an unexpected 1-0 win over Nacional in Montevideo.

Lanus will surely have the three points in their sights as they seek to put an end to their rather irregular form in 2017. The loss of star playmaker Miguel Almiron seems to have affected the team greatly. Performances have been very inconsistent, one day capable of blowing away River Plate 3-0 in the Argentine Super Cup but then on another capable of losing to the same opponent 3-1 on home soil. The side have now lost 5 of the last 8 competitive games, and sit a lowly 10th in the Argentine top flight. That makes any sort of success in the league close to impossible, so focus definitely turns to the Libertadores.

Zulia arrive looking to pick up another positive result on their continental travels. Their win over Nacional was a real shock, and in all honesty was quite a fortunate one. The Uruguayans dominated the game from start to finish, with Zulia being out-shot 14-1 and having just 41% of the possession. They’ll do well to take a similar result from this game with Lanus, with a similar pattern of game anticipated.

Confidence in the Zulia camp cannot be high coming into the game, after being hammered 5-1 at home last Thursday by Carabobo. The clean sheet in Uruguay was the exception rather than the rule, with their defence currently the joint second most porous in domestic football, conceding 22 goals in just 10 games.

Lanus normally deal well with pressure, winning last year’s league final comfortably, along with the Super Cup. The pressure was also on them to secure a result last round against Chapecoense and they stepped up to the plate, We see them doing so here again and should win fairly comfortably, given the players at their disposal.

There is little value in backing the hosts’ to win however; and we think the over 2.5 goals line is a better way to play this one. Lanus’ have the players with capabilities to clear the total alone, and given their tendency to step up a level when required and the visitors truly awful defensive record against far weaker opposition, it looks a fairly safe bet.

You can’t rule out the visitors scoring, irrespective of their defensive struggles they’ve still found the net an average of 1.75 times in their games this season and with Juan Arango they have a player capable of opening the hosts up. Back over 2.5 goals as the hosts’ run out 4-1 winners.