Gremio vs Palmeiras Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores quarter final, first leg clash sees Brazilians Gremio and Palmeiras doing battle in Porto Alegre. With so much at stake, a close and evenly matched affair is expected to be in order.

Having advanced from a group containing Rosario Central, Libertad and Universidad Catolica, prior to eliminating Libertad in the round of 16, Gremio are now hopeful of challenging for the Libertadores title. Renato Gaucho’s men certainly have plenty of recent pedigree in the competition, after winning it in 2017 and reaching the semi final last year but there can be no doubting this tie with Palmeiras ranks as an extremely difficult one.

Indeed, away from continental action, Gremio aren’t having the best of seasons and they find themselves down in 14th place in Serie A, some 12 points behind Palmeiras themselves. Nonetheless, unbeaten in 10 home matches, the hosts have every reason to be confident coming into Wednesday’s game and they’ll be desperate to secure a positive result to take with them to the return leg.

Meanwhile, coming into 2019 as one of the clear favourites to win the Libertadores, Brazilian champions Palmeiras have thus far met all expectations in the competition. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s troops breezed through a group containing FBC Melgar, Junior and San Lorenzo and also made short work of Godoy Cruz in the last 16, running out 6-2 winners on aggregate.

With a squad that ranks amongst the strongest in South America, Palmeiras are aiming for clean sweep of the league and Libertadores title in the coming months and they do have to be considered favourites to win this tie. Man for man, they’re a little stronger than Gremio in most areas of the pitch and on the whole, they are having a far better season than their opponents and are the more consistent of the two.

Ultimately, whilst we think Palmeiras will be the side advancing to the semi finals, this first leg should at least be a close game. With the crowd behind them, Gremio should have enough to match Palmeiras and with so much on the line, a nervy 90 minutes is likely to be in order.

All things considered, it’s backing a draw that really captures our attention and is exactly where our money is going. The sides met at the weekend and drew 1-1 and with Gremio having drawn 3 of their last 6 home games and Palmeiras 5 of their last 6 overall, we feel a 0-0 stalemate could well be on the cards.