Santos (Brazil) vs Banfield (Argentina)
Santos climbed into the top of the Copa Sudamericana group C table thanks to a thrilling 1-0 home success over Union La Calera last week, with Lucas Barbosa netting the winner in the 102th minute. O Peixe are now on ten points and will advance to the round of 16 in the event of winning here. On Saturday, the team drew 0-0 at home against Ceara SC to make it 11 points in seven games in the Brazilian league table. Santos suffered a single defeat in their last six competitive matches, winning four and drawing one, and they also hold a nine-match unbeaten streak at home (seven wins and two draws).
Meanwhile, Banfield ran out of chances to advance to the round of 16 last week, when they settled for a 1-1 home draw against Universidad Catolica (Ecuador) in coach Claudio Vivas’ debut. The side remain bottom in the group C table with four points in five matches. Furthermore, El Taladro made it five winless matches in all competitions, drawing three and two losses. On away turf, they managed a single point from the last 12 available since beating Patronato 1-0 on April 10th.
Santos needs to win to secure their place in the next round, Banfield plays for nothing and will pretty much take it as a good training session, so I expect the hosts to easily take the win they need.