Libertad Asuncion vs The Strongest Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores second qualification round, second leg action sees Paraguayans Libertad and Bolivians The Strongest doing battle once again. The hosts arrive in pole position having avoided defeat in last week’s first leg 1-1 draw.

Libertad achieved what few do in their gruelling trip to the high altitude of La Paz last week; in that they avoided defeat. The Strongest are typically dominant on home soil in continental competition but the Paraguayans battled well and managed to maintain the parity that now has them as huge favourites to advance to the final qualification round.

Indeed, an extremely powerful home outfit themselves, Libertad will be very confident in securing the win they neded. El Repollero have won 9 of their last 10 home games, scoring an impressive average of 2.6 goals per match in the process and that kind of home form could well provide the basis for another successful continental campaign, having reached the last 16 of the Libertadores last season before losing to eventual runners-up Boca Juniors.

Meanwhile, The Strongest arrive kicking themselves that they couldn’t make their high altitude, home advantage count and they’re now faced with a very difficult task as regards advancing. For decades the Bolivians have suffered on the road in continental competition and they typically struggle to compete once the playing field is levelled at a lower altitude venue.

Even domestically, The Strongest are not convincing on their travels and that has to be a huge worry going into Wednesday’s game. All in all, El Tigre have lost 7 of their last 10 away games and having conceded an average of 2.2 goals a game over said matches, they’ll have to tighten up defensively in Paraguay if they are to have any hope of winning the tie.

Ultimately, Libertad have done the hard part in avoiding defeat in the first leg and all that’s left to do is to finish the job off on home soil. They’re now massive favourites to win the tie and their prospects certainly look bright in doing exactly that.

All things considered, we think the hosts will win the game on Wednesday and do so in comfortable fashion, so backing them on the -1 handicap looks to provide great value. Libertad are extremely potent on home territory, The Strongest are porous defensively on their travels and that leads us to believe that a 2-0 home win could well be on the cards.