Defensa y Justicia (Argentina) – LDU Quito (Ecuador)

Defensa y Justicia have a mountain to climb if they want to reach the Copa Sudamericana final for the second time in history. Last weekend, they succumbed to a surprising 3-0 away defeat at LDU Quito. On Saturday, coach Julio Vaccari fielded a completely alternative XI that ended up losing 1-0 away at Sarandi Arsenal, which was their third consecutive loss in all competitions. El Halcon remain on nine points in the Copa Liga Profesional group B, still occupying one of the Copa Libertadores’ spots in the aggregate table. Defensa hold an impressive 17-match unbeaten streak of 12 victories and five draws as the hosting side, but they will play at Lanus on Wednesday.

LDU Quito played enjoyable football to take the first step towards the Copa Sudamericana finals, beating Defensa y Justicia 3-0 at home last Wednesday. Last weekend, the team saw their home match against Universidad Catolica Quito suspended, which displaced them from the top of the Ecuadorian league’s second stage table: they are now on 14 points, trailing leaders Barcelona, Mushuc Runa and Delfin by one. Liga won three of their last four matches in all competitions, along with a single defeat. On a sorry note, they lost the last two on the road in regular time.

The 3-0 of the 1st leg means Defensa has to go all in to try to revert this result, they rested their starters in the last two league games so they should be fresh and that means this should be an open game with chances for both sides.

BET: OVER 2.5 @ 1.91