Sporting Cristal vs UTC Cajamarca Predictions, Betting Tips & Match Preview

Sporting Cristal have continued to show their strength, class and consistency all through 2016. Sporting, who finished as runners up to Champions Melgar in the 2015 season, stand in 2nd place in the overall table and have been slowly gaining ground on league leaders Universitario, reducing a 9 point difference down to 0 over the 10 Clausura fixtures so far. Sporting Cristal are unbeaten in 4 matches (W2 D2) and the bookies favourites for this match.

UTC Cajamarca have done exceptionally well so far in the Clausura, turning things around from their disappointing Apertura phase where they finished in 12th place and just 4 points above the relegation zone. UTC have lost just one of their last 10 fixtures (W4 D5 L1) and have grinded out some impressive results both at home and on the road, including a 1-1 draw away to reigning champions Melgar and a 0-0 draw at home to the in-form Sport Huancayo.

Home advantage usually plays a very strong influence on results in the Peruvian Primera Division due to the widely varying climates and altitudes, an advantage which Sporting Cristal have recently failed to capitalise on. Sporting Cristal have lost more matches than they’ve won over their last 9 at home (W3 D2 L4) and have earnt just 41% of their points at home this season. UTC may not be the most exciting team, with many low scoring results in 2016, but they are unbeaten in 5 consecutive away matches, grinding out 9 points from these while scoring just 4 goals (two 1-1 draws, one 0-0 draw, and two 1-0 wins). 6 of Sporting Cristal’s last 8 home matches also had under 2.5 goals scored and as such we feel the form and trends between these 2 sides favours a low-scoring outcome.

Combining that analysis with the statistics below, we expect under 2.5 goals at 19/20 to be a safe bet and a result of draw 1-1 at 6/1 with bet365 to be a top value correct score bet.