Union (Argentina) vs Oriente Petrolero (Bolivia)
Union Santa Fe grabbed a valuable point in their last Copa Sudamericana match, drawing 0-0 away at Fluminense thanks to a penalty saved by Santiago Mele in stoppage time. The team accumulated five points in three games and, after Fluminense’s win over Junior on Wednesday, they have the chance of leapfrogging them both at the top of the group H table by winning here. On Monday, Union lost 2-1 to Defensa y Justicia at their own stadium to run out of chances to fight for a ticket to the playoffs in the league: the team remain on 17 points in 13 games. Overall, Union are on five winless games, drawing one and losing four since beating Oriente Petrolero 3-1 away in April. Gustavo Munua’s men lost the last two at home.
Meanwhile, Oriente Petrolero are yet to earn points in the Copa Sudamericana as a result of their 3-1 home defeat to Junior last week. The team will be knocked out of the competition in the event of not beating Union Santa Fe on Thursday. On a positive note, El Refinero beat Atletico Palmaflor 2-1 at home last Sunday to climb into the last playoff berth in the Bolivian league group A, with 18 points in 12 games. That victory also broke their five-match winless streak of three draws and two losses. On away turf, Oriente earned only two points from the last 12 on offer.
Union can take the top place of the group with a win, and they shouldn’t have any problems against this poor bolivian side that they already beat away a few weeks ago.