Junior vs Lanus Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Wednesday’s Copa Sudamericana second round, second leg clash sees Colombians Junior playing host to Lanus. Little action is expected in the 90 minutes as the visitors look to hold onto their slender 1-0 lead established in the first leg.

Just a 1-0 defeat from the trip to Buenos Aires has to be considered a decent enough result for Junior and the side now have a realistic chance of advancing in front of the home crowd. Failure to do so would see pressure begin to really mount on the team however, with 2018 having been a disappointing year so far.

Los Tiburones were knocked out of a difficult Copa Libertadores group containing Boca Juniors and Palmeiras but far less understandable for the home support is the manner in which they have performed domestically, having crashed out at the quarter-final stages of the opening phase play-off.

A 0-0 draw away at Atletico Bucaramanga over the weekend in the first match of the closing phase of league action has hardly helped Junior build any momentum coming into this games and they’ve now failed to win any of their last 5 matches overall.

Meanwhile, Lanus are currently out of domestic action until the Argentine Superliga resumes next month, so can focus solely on continental affairs at the moment. El Granate made the final of the Copa Libertadores last season but have since lost numerous players and their manager, meaning a similar run in the Sudamericana looks a big ask.

Nonetheless, having secured an advantage from the first leg, the visitors will at least be hopeful of advancing from this round. If Ezequiel Carboni’s men are to do that however, they’ll have to improve upon their showing away at Sporting Cristal in the first round of the competition, which they advanced from despite losing 2-1 away from home.

Ultimately, we’re not expecting too many fireworks in the match and it looks almost certain to be a low scoring affair, meaning we are more than happy to back the under 2.5 goal line with maximum confidence.

Lanus will look to sit deep and hang onto their lead in what’s always a difficult venue to travel to and with Junior far from firing on all cylinders, we can’t see the Argentines being blown away under pressure. 7 of Junior’s last 10 matches have ended with under 2.5 goals, as have all 6 of Lanus’ last competitive fixtures and we see both sequences continuing as Junior edge the clash 1-0 on the night, taking the tie to penalties.