Cerro Porteno vs Nacional De Football Predictions

Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores group stage action sees Paraguayans Cerro Porteno doing battle with Uruguayans Nacional. Both teams have made excellent starts to the competition but it’s the hosts who are expected to claim victory here.

A stunning away win at Brazilians Atletico Mineiro prior to a home win over Venezuelans Zamora has Cerro Porteno in a great position and if they can win Tuesday’s match on home soil, they’ll be all but into the last 16 of the competition. El Ciclon were given a reasonable chance of progressing from the group when it was first drawn but even the most optimistic of fans could hardly have predicted the side being in the position they’re currently in.

Cerro will arrive confident in their ability to get the job done on Tuesday and are having a good year all round so far, also currently 2nd in the Paraguayan top flight. Having won 4 of their last 5 home games whilst scoring a huge average of 3.4 goals a game, the hosts are clearly a real force in front of their own fans and that leaves their prospects bright going into the game.

Meanwhile, Nacional have also made a dream start to the group, first winning away at Zamora and then beating Atletico Mineiro on home soil. Both of those fixtures ranked as difficult ones and if the Uruguayans can secure some kind of result on Tuesday, then they’ll be in a very healthy position.

Domestically, Nacional have made a far less impressive start to the season however and are currently 7th in the Uruguayan Primera Division table after taking just 9 points from 7 games. As such, it’s hard tell whether Los Albos are really going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2019 and the fact they’ve only won 1 of their last 5 Libertadores away games doesn’t read particularly well prior to arrival in Paraguay either.

Ultimately, this is a match Cerro will feel they have to be winning and it’d be a huge opportunity missed if they slipped up. Nacional aren’t a bad outfit, but Cerro will view this game as a very winnable one and given what’s at stake, they’ll come to the pitch going all out in search of the 3 points.

Given how strong they are on home turf, we think the Paraguayans will indeed win the match and for that reason, backing a home win looks the way to play as far as the betting is concerned. It’ll likely be a tight game, but Cerro are a very potent outfit when at home and that should mean they have enough to edge the contest by a 1-0 margin.