Sporting Cristal vs Penarol Betting Tips and Predictions

Penarol were runners up in Uruguay last season and have plenty of Libertadores experience. They’ve won the competition on 5 occasions but not since 1987 and in truth they haven’t come close in recent years. Their last 3 participations have all ended in the group stage in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and they lost 7 of their 9 away games in that period, winning just once.

They’ve won their first two league games in 2016 and also finished 2015 strongly but this will be their biggest test for some time away from home against a stubborn Sporting Cristal side that seem capable of rising to the big occasion.

Their recent league form has been very poor and they’ve only won 2 of their last 14 matches although they were against strong sides in the shape of Melgar and Cesar Vallejo, the other two Peruvian participants in this competition.

They are unbeaten in 3 matches in 2016 though and were very competitive in the group stage of the Libertadores last year, losing only 1 of their 6 matches. They have only suffered 1 home defeat in the competition in the past 10 years and have picked up 6 wins in that time. With Penarol weak away from Uruguay, the hosts look the more likely winners here and can be backed at 4/6 in the ‘draw no bet’ market.

It’s likely to be close though and Penarol will give it a go so goals at both ends are a possibility and you can back a 2-1 home win at 9/1.