Chapecoense vs Union La Calera Predictions

Tuesday’s Copa Sudamericana first round, second leg clash sees Brazilians Chapecoense going up against Chileans Union La Calera. It’s all still to play for after a 0-0 draw in the first leg, but the hosts arrive as favourites to advance in front of their own fans.

Ultimately, although they went into the first leg as marginal favourites, Chapecoense were happy to leave with parity intact in the end, after coming under some sustained pressure in the match and performing well below par. Now on home soil, Verdão will be desperate for an improved showing in order to progress into the next round as expected.

Chape are coming under some pressure at the moment from their fans, despite being 13 matches unbeaten, due to the fact they’ve now drawn 3 of their last 4 games 0-0 and are looking fairly blunt in attack. Nonetheless, having won 4 of their last 5 games at the Arena Conda, confidence certainly won’t be low coming into this game and those taking to the pitch will be assured of their ability to get the job done.

Meanwhile, the first leg certainly feels like an opportunity missed for Union La Calera, who really could have done with taking the lead on home soil. Establishing an advantage was always going to be crucial to the Chileans’ chances and having failed to do so, they now find themselves with a difficult task.

Indeed, Los Rojos are going to have to improve on their most recent away showings if they are to have any hope of progressing beyond Tuesday’s game and their away record is a real cause for concern. The side have not won any of their last 5 matches on the road and having lost 4 of said clashes and scored just once during them, confidence is not particularly high in travelling ranks prior to arrival.

Ultimately, whilst we’re expecting this to be a tight game once again with little goalmouth action, it’s a fixture Chapecoense really should be winning. Man for man, they’re a stronger outfit than a La Calera team that is also very weak on their travels.

Taking all things into consideration, backing a home win in combination with under 2.5 goals looks to provide excellent value and is exactly where our money is going. 4 of Chape’s last 5 home games have ended with under 2.5 goals, as have 7 of La Calera’s last 8 matches overall and with the hosts having won 3 of their last 5 home games by a 1-0 margin, that’s a scoreline not too difficult to envisage being repeated.