Sao Paulo vs Talleres de Cordoba Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores second qualification round, second leg clash sees Brazilians Sao Paulo doing battle with Argentines Talleres de Cordoba. The visitors will be looking to see through the 2-0 lead they established in last week’s first leg.

Whilst Sao Paulo were expected to be given a run for the money by Talleres, this a tie the Brazilians were favourites to win when the draw was made but after a dire performance in Argentina, they’ve now left themselves with a mountain to climb if they are to avoid an early exit from the Libertadores.

Tricolor boss André Jardine has made a terrible start to what is his first ever senior management role and if his troops don’t manage to come back on Wednesday, his future will surely be in question. Under his watch, Sao Paulo have now lost 4 of their last 5 games and having scored just once in said fixtures, confidence is very low coming into this game.

Meanwhile, it was dreamland for Talleres last week at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, as La T rose to the occasion in what was their return to the Libertadores for the first time since 2002. Since then, the side have almost exclusively played their football in the second and third tiers of the domestic game but their first leg win firmly marked their arrival back in the big time..

The job is far from over with another 90 minutes to play but Talleres arrive in good form and will be confident in seeing their lead through. Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s troops are yet to lose in 2019, winning 4 of their 6 outings in the process and having kept a clean sheet in their last two matches, the visitors are showing exactly the type of defensively solidarity that will see them through on Wednesday.

Ultimately, whilst Sao Paulo are typically quite strong on their own patch, it’s very difficult to see a way back for them in this one. They’re playing very poorly at the moment, are under huge pressure from their fans and have numerous injury issues and said factors don’t suggest they’ll be able to turn over a Talleres outfit that beat them comfortably just a week ago.

As such, at generous odds, backing Talleres on the +1.5 Asian Handicap market looks an excellent way to play and is exactly where our money is going. That would mean even a 1-0 defeat for the visitors would see our pick land, but in any case, we don’t see them losing at all and think they’ll be able to frustrate the hosts in a 0-0 draw.