Colon vs Argentinos Juniors Predictions

Friday’s Copa Sudamericana round of 16, first leg action features an all Argentine affair as Colon de Santa Fe and Argentinos Juniors do battle at the Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López. The hosts will be looking to establish a lead to take with them into the second leg.

After reaching this stage of the competition last year prior to falling to defeat at the hands of Colombians Junior, Colon will be itching to go further this time around. So far, it’s been plain sailing for Los Sabaleros in this year’s Sudamericana, with easy wins over Deportivo Municipal and River Plate (URU) bringing them to this point.

Having made some smart signings during the current domestic break, Colon are looking quite a strong unit and manager Pablo Lavallén is starting to stamp his mark on the team. With 3 wins from the last 4 behind them, Colon are in confident mood and certainly won’t be arriving for Friday’s clash in an apprehensive state.

Meanwhile, Argentinos have hardly been regulars in continental competition in recent seasons but are looking to make the most of their participation this year. El Bicho have seen off Estudiantes de Merida and Deportes Tolima to reach this last 16 clash, but with most of their good work having been done on home soil in said ties, confidence could be somewhat low coming into this game,

Indeed, Argentinos haven’t scored an away goal in the Sudamericana so far and have been heavily reliant on their home performances. Having won just 1 of their last 7 away games, they clearly aren’t a force on their travels at all and for that reason, merely staying in the tie is the objective on Friday.

Ultimately, you have to have Colon down as favourites on the night and in the tie overall. Man for man, they are slightly stronger team than their visitors on paper and with the home crowd behind them, they should definitely be able to establish some sort of lead.

All things considered, backing a Colon win looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going. They’ve looked in good shape since Lavallén came in and given they’ve won 4 of the last 6 meetings between the sides, including the last 2, it’s hard to envision anything but a home win in this game, with a 2-0 Colon win on the cards.