Universidad de Chile vs FBC Melgar Predictions

Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores second qualification round, second leg action sees Chileans Universidad de Chile doing battle with Melgar. The hosts have to come back from 1-0 down if they are to advance into the final round of qualification.

Whilst Universidad were big favourites to advance from this tie when the draw was made, the first leg, played at gruelling altitude, was always likely to pose issues and so it proved, as they lost it 1-0 last week. Nonetheless, that’s not a result that’s all that disastrous for La U and they come into Wednesday’s match confident of overturning the deficit

Frank Kudelka’s men are strong on home soil and even a goal down, they’re still favourites to advance from this point. The side are unbeaten in 7 competitive home matches, winning 5 times and the fact they’ve not conceded in the latter 4 of said fixtures is also a real positive, as guarding against conceding an away goal is of paramount importance in this second leg.

Meanwhile, Melgar will be happy to arrive having something to defend but that feeling will also be mixed with one of disappointment that their lead is so slender and they couldn’t make it a more substantial one. Melgar’s home performance was always going to be crucial for their chances of causing an upset and whilst they’re in the lead, they still have a huge amount of work to do.

Indeed, Melgar have been far from a powerhouse in the Libertadores in recent years and have been absolutely dreadful on the road in the competition, which has to be regarded as a massive concern coming into this trip. All in all, they’ve lost 6 of their last 7 Libertadores away games and all but one of said defeats were by a margin that would see them eliminated if repeated on Wednesday.

Ultimately, Universidad cannot afford to slip up and it’d be a huge blow if they were to fall at the very first hurdle in continental action. Man for man, they’re a stronger side than Melgar by quite some margin and that should translate onto the pitch now that the two are facing off at a normal altitude.

All things considered, we think the hosts will advance and as such, are more than happy to back them on the -1 handicap. Melgar are regularly handed big margins of defeat when playing away in the Libertadores and with La U a strong home outfit, a 2-0 home win could well be on the cards.