Independiente del Valle (Ecuador) – Boca Juniors (Argentina)

Independiente del Valle ended up in third spot of the Copa Libertadores’ group F despite beating Uruguay’s Liverpool FC 2-1 at home in matchday six. The team made it seven points, trailing second-placed San Lorenzo by one. A few days later, IDV won 1-0 over Orense as hosts to win the Ecuadorian league first stage, accumulating 35 points in 15 rounds, four above Barcelona SC. Overall, Javier Gandolfi’s men are unbeaten in their last four matches, winning three and drawing one. The same can be said about their last four matches as the hosting side.

Boca Juniors weren’t able to skip the playoff round despite beating Bolivian club Nacional Potosi 4-0 at home: they finished in second place of the Copa Sudamericana group D table on 11 points, two behind Fortaleza EC. Accumulating seven points in five Liga Profesional matches, El Xeneize had their last competitive game on June 19th, beating second-tier side Almirante Brown in the Copa Argentina round of 32. Diego Martinez’s men lost only one of their last seven in all tournaments, winning four and drawing two. However, they lost four of the last six on away turf (along with two victories).

Big problems for Boca here as they will have 14 missings: midfielder Guillermo Fernandez reached the yellow-card limit while Edinson Cavani and Cristian Lema are out injured. Ezequiel Fernandez, Cristian Medina and Kevin Zenon are involved in the Olympics, while new players Gary Medel, Milton Gimenez and Tomas Belmonte, new reinforcements, haven’t been registered for this phase due to an administrative mistake.
They go to the altitude of Quito with a team full of young players and should be in trouble against the usually solid Independiente.

BET: Independiente del Valle -0.75 @ 1.87