Talleres de Cordoba vs Palestino Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores final qualification round, first leg action sees Argentines Talleres doing battle with Chileans Palestino. The hosts will be looking to place one foot in the group stage with a strong showing on home soil.

After securing a famous 2-0 aggregate win over Brazilian powerhouse Sao Paulo in the last round, hosts Talleres can now smell the group stage and arrive as big favourites to win this tie over two legs. La T, back in the competition for the first time in two decades, have suffered almost constantly in recent years, playing both second and third tier football, but they’ve now well and truly announced themselves on the big stage once again.

Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s troops certainly didn’t eliminate Sao Paulo by chance, and showed a real maturity over the two legs, something they’ll be aiming to do once again in this clash. Having kept clean sheets in their last 4 matches, as well as having won 10 of their last 18 home games, losing just 3 times in the process, those taking to the pitch in dark blue and white will do so confident in securing a positive result.

Meanwhile, Palestino did extremely well themselves to eliminate Colombians Independiente Medellin on penalties after a 2-2 aggregate draw, but they now face an even bigger challenge against Talleres. Back in the competition for the first time since 2015, the Chileans are hopeful of making it into the group stage but cannot be ranked as favourites in this tie over two legs.

Indeed, Tricolor are highly unlikely to take a good result away from Cordoba with them, given their less than convincing away record. Overall, they’ve won just 1 of their last 13 away games and having failed to score in 4 of their last 6 on the road, the threat they’re likely to pose in this match is set to be minimal.

Ultimately, Talleres have already fulfilled the role of underdogs successfully in beating Sao Paulo and now up against a far weaker opponent, know they’ll progress if they play at their maximum level. Man for man, the hosts are a stronger outfit than Palestino, and will be hungry to translate that into what we see on the pitch.

All things considered, we really like the look of backing a Talleres win to nil in this match and at current prices, that’s exactly where our money is going. Talleres are looking very solid defensively and have enough talent going forward to cause their opponents real issues. Palestino will likely bring a very defensive game-plan, but we can only envisage them being on the end of a 2-0 defeat.