Deportivo Cali vs LDU Quito Predictions

Thursday’s Copa Sudamericana round of 16, second leg action sees Colombians Deportivo Cali going up against Ecuadorians LDU Quito. The hosts will be looking to overturn the 1-0 defeat they suffered in the first leg.

Ultimately, whilst they didn’t claim an away goal, Deportivo Cali can be relatively satisfied with their work in the first leg, with the narrow margin of defeat far from a poor result, given the difficulty of travelling to face LDU. The result leaves El Verde well in with a shout of progressing into the quarterfinals and those taking to the field will be desperate to make it there with a strong showing.

If Cali can match the two home performances they’ve put in so far during the competition, they’ll be more than ok.  3-0 and 4-0 routs of Uruguayans Danubio and Bolivians Bolivar respectively provided most of the groundwork for the side to reach this point and having also won 5 of their last 6 home games overall, it’s fair to say confidence is running high coming into this clash.

Meanwhile, whilst LDU will be happy to have edged ahead in the tie, that feeling is surely mixed with disappointment that their winning margin wasn’t a bigger one. The Ecuadorians now face a tricky task if they are to progress to the next round and it’s clear that there’s only one aim upon arrival on Colombian soil; to defend the lead at all costs.

Overall, 2018 has been a good year for LDU thus far, but continental elimination would put something of a dark mark on it. Pablo Repetto’s won the opening phase of domestic action and have also played well to eliminate Guabira and Vasco to reach this point of the competition, but currently standing 6th in the closing phase of the Ecuadorian season and having lost 3-2 to Macara over the weekend, recent performances haven’t been quite as convincing.

All things considered, this tie looks far from over and it’d take a brave man to rule a Cali comeback out of the equation. In front of their home fans, the hosts are a real force and with LDU having won just 1 of their last 8 away games, the visitors are from a powerful outfit on their travels.

The market that immediately draws our attention is the Cali win to nil line and at a fair price, that’s exactly where our money is going. We’ve already mentioned that Cali have won 5 of their last 6 home games and 4 of said victories have been to nil. The Colombians have won 3 of their last 4 Sudamericana home fixtures to nil as well and with LDU having failed to score in 50% of their last 8 away games, that’s a streak that looks like continuing, with a 1-0 home win likely; a scoreline that would see the tie settled from the spot.