Universidad Catolica vs Gremio Predictions

Thursday’s Copa Libertadores group stage action sees Chileans Universidad Catolica doing battle with Brazilians Gremio. An open, exciting game is expected to be in order as both sides chase the three points on offer.

After winning the Chilean top flight last year, hosts Universidad Catolica came into the Libertadores hopeful of a decent run in it. The Chileans kicked off the group in terrible fashion, going down 4-1 at Libertad but they then got things back on track with a 2-1 win over Argentines Rosario Central, meaning if they could claim victory again on Thursday they’d be in a very healthy position.

Currently unbeaten in 5 matches, of which they’ve won 4, confidence is certainly high in Universidad ranks at the moment and those taking to the pitch on Thursday will be hopeful of securing a good result. The team are typically strong on home soil, evidenced by the fact they’ve lost just 1 of their last 13 games there and they’ll certainly have enough to give the visitors plenty to think about.

Meanwhile, after winning the competition in 2017 and reaching the semi-final of it last year, Gremio started the year as one of the front runners to claim the crown but they’ve made a terrible start. Tricolor first drew away at Rosario Central prior to falling to a shock home defeat to Libertad, meaning a poor result in Chile would put them in a very difficult position.

Gremio’s Libertadores struggles so far this year are hard to explain, as aside from continental action, they’ve looked very powerful and have lost just 1 of the 19 games they’ve contested in 2019 overall. There can be no doubting they have the players to turn the situation around, and that’s exactly what they’ll be hoping to start doing in this trip.

Ultimately, this a match both sides really could do with winning and there’s plenty at stake during the 90 minutes. For that very reason, we’re anticipating an attacking game, with both sides looking to push forward in numbers in search of what would be a vital win.

All things considered, backing both nets to be hit looks an excellent way to play as far as the betting goes, given the type of game we’re likely to see. 7 of Universidad Catolica’s last 8 Copa Libertadores home games have seen both sides scoring, and we can envisage that sequence continuing via a 1-1 draw, with the two looking too hard to separate result wise.