River Plate vs Cruzeiro Predictions

Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores round of 16, first leg action sees Argentines River Plate doing battle with Brazilians Cruzeiro at the Estadio Monumental. The competition holders will be aiming to open up an advantage to take with them into the second leg.

After an enthralling charge to Libertadores glory last year; culminating in a win in the final against arch rivals Boca Juniors, River Plate once again look amongst the front runners for what would be their third Libertadores crown under Marcelo Gallardo. Having made it through a group containing Internacional, Alianza Lima and Palestino, Los Millonarios are already well on their way towards a deep run in the competition.

With a squad that is the envy of most in South America, River were always likely to go far in the competition and this is certainly a tie they are expecting to win. River have quality in all areas of the pitch and given they’ve won 4 of their last 5 home matches whilst plunging home an average of 3.6 goals a game, confidence should be very high coming into Tuesday’s game.

Meanwhile, lots has changed surrounding Cruzeiro since they breezed through a group containing Emelec, Deportivo Lara and Huracán. Indeed, Raposa were in fine form back then, but said results now seem a distant memory, with the team in awful form and in off field crisis.

Cru currently sit just 1 point outside the relegation zone in Serie A; something which is highly concerning given they were expected to challenge for the title. Off the pitch, club headquarters have recently been stormed by police amid money laundering allegations and the players have suffered delays in the payment of their wages; leading to a situation that is far from ideal prior to this tie.

Ultimately, this is a tie River have to be considered big favourites to win and that’s also the case as far as this 90 minutes is concerned. They are in a stronger and more convincing state than Cruzeiro, who arrive having won just 1 of their last 14 outings.

All things considered, backing River to win this match looks the best way to play as far as the betting is concerned and is exactly where our money is going with maximum confidence. Cruzeiro haven’t won any of their last 8 away games, losing 5 times in the process and it’s hard to picture that streak ending, with a 2-0 margin of home win on the cards.