Estudiantes (Argentina) – The Strongest (Bolivia)

Estudiantes fans will have felt devastated after the 1-1 away stalemate at Huachipato FC in the Copa Libertadores’ opener last Wednesday. The team took their first point in group C and are trailing leaders The Strongest by two. On Saturday, El Pincha thrashed CA Central Cordoba 5-0 at home to keep their hope alive in the Copa Liga Profesional: they made it 21 points (with one game in hand), trailing fourth-placed Boca Juniors by one. In fact, Eduardo Dominguez’s men put an end to a five-match winless streak of one draw and four defeats in all competitions. Estudiantes lost only one of their last nine home matches, winning six and drawing two in that spell.

Meanwhile, The Strongest started their campaign in the 2024 Copa Libertadores in a happy way: they beat Gremio from Brazil 2-0 at home with Luciano Ursino and Enrique Triverio scoring to become the only leaders in group C on three points. On Friday, El Tigre also beat San Antonio Bulo Bulo 2-0 as the hosting side to make it four wins across the last five competitive matches (along with one defeat). The team are now second-placed in the Bolivian league table on 13 points, trailing their last opponents by one (and holding one game in hand). On a sorry note, The Strongest are on four away games without a win, drawing two and losing two.

Estudiantes is of course the favorite to win here but The Strongest is a veteran team with a lot of experience in this competition and I think they will put up a decent fight here. They come from beating brazilian giants Gremio, helped by the altitude of La Paz of course, but still they have a good striker in argentinean Enrique Triverio who can put any defense in trouble. Estudiantes has two very important league games in just a couple of days (against Boca on Friday and Lanus next Tuesday) so they could balance their effort as well here.

BET: The Strongest +2 @ 1.79