In Chile, rubro-negro tries to maintain 100% success in Libertadores
At the end of the first round of Libertadores Group H, Universidad Católica and Flamengo face each other this Thursday, at 7 pm (Brasilia time), at the San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium, in Santiago, Chile.
The Universidad Católica is not experiencing a good moment. It currently occupies the ninth place in the Chilean Championship, with 13 points out of a possible 33. It comes from a 1-1 draw with Colo Colo, last Sunday, and has not won for three rounds in the national competition.
A defeat to Flamengo in Libertadores can complicate the team’s situation, as it has three points in two games and will only play once more as home team in the group stage. The club is looking for a new coach after sacking Argentine Cristián Paulucci. Rodrigo Valenzuela directs the team on an interim basis.
David Luiz became Flamengo’s last-minute embezzlement, which released him to resolve personal issues. With that, Pablo, who debuted well against Athletico-PR, should be kept in the starting lineup to form a central defender with Willian Arão and Filipe Luís. Ayrton Lucas, Matheuzinho and Rodrigo Caio, already in the final phase of the physical transition and already free of injuries, stayed in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to them, Paulo Souza continues without counting on: Fabrício Bruno (left foot injury), Gustavo Henrique (starting transition after a quadriceps injury), Vitinho (recovering from a right thigh injury) and Matheus França (recovering from a fracture in the fibula right leg).
(5.25) Catholic University x Flamengo (1.61); hunches and predictions
Both teams score: Flamengo conceded goals in four of their last five games this season. In addition, the strength of the Chilean team playing at home makes it one of the most sought-after predictions of the game to be goals for both teams.
Double chance (Tie or Flamengo) and +1.5 goals: Favorite, Flamengo should leave with a positive result in the match. In addition, the good technical power of the teams makes the scoring potential of the game relatively high.
More than 0.5 goals for Universidad Católica: Playing at home, Universidad Católica should put pressure on Flamengo, who are not having a good defensive moment. With that, another good guess is at least one goal for the Chileans.
