Sao Paulo vs Colon Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Thursday’s Copa Sudamericana second round, first leg action sees Brazilians Sao Paulo and Argentines Colon going head to head. The hosts will be looking to establish an advantage to take to Santa Fe for the second leg.

That’s something Sao Paulo can certainly be confident in achieving, currently in great form and enjoying a fantastic campaign. Tricolor have been in excellent shape domestically and look like putting together a title bid that certainly wasn’t anticipated prior to the season beginning, sitting just two points off of leaders Flamengo in the Brazilian top flight with an impressive 32 points from 16 games.

Diego Aguirre has done a brilliant job since taking over Sao Paulo and with his troops having won 5 of their last 6 games after a stunning 2-0 away at Cruzeiro at the weekend, morale is very high at the club at the moment and all focus in now on securing continental progression. Sao Paulo have already knocked out Argentine opposition from the Sudamericana once this year, eliminating Rosario Central and they now have Colon firmly in their sights.

Nonetheless, Colon should provide a stern enough test but it remains to be seen if they’ll have the resolve to stay in the tie on Thursday night. The visitors are currently out of season with the Argentine campaign set to begin next week but have been showing encouraging signs in recent weeks, securing progression in both the Argentine Cup and the Copa Santa Fe.

This trip undoubtedly marks an ncrease in terms of quality of opposition faced however, and Colon’s new-look defence will certainly have to be at their best. Key central defender German Conti has left to join Benfica over the off-season, whilst goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez has departed for Velez, so replacements Leonardo Burian and Erik Godoy will have to get up to speed quickly.

Ultimately, we can’t see Colon escaping from this first leg with parity in tact and are more than happy to back Sao Paulo winning with full confidence. The hosts have momentum behind them and have been dispatching of opponents with more quality than Colon with unbelievable regularity.

Make no mistake, Colon are not a bad side but the fact they lack real competitive rhythm and now must travel to one of the continent’s most in-form sides is a worry. Sao Paulo are unbeaten in 14 home games, 10 of which wins and with 7 of those victories coming to nil, we also like the look of backing the hosts to win whilst keeping a clean sheet, with a 2-0 success on the cards.