After investing lots of money in the transfer window, Flamengo produced an unacceptable performance on their visit to Emelec last Wednesday and ended up losing 2-0 in spite of having played against ten men during almost 40 minutes. On Sunday, O Rubro Negro fielded their best XI and beat Botafogo 3-2 at home, which kept them sitting in the third spot of the league table, five points behind leaders Santos. That triumph stopped a three-game winless run of two draws in regular time and one loss. However, they are on 12 home matches unbeaten, with ten victories in that spell (four of which would lead them at least to penalties here).
Emelec has a big opportunity of returning to the Copa Libertadores’ quarter-finals after four years following a 2-0 home success over Flamengo, with Wilmer Godoy and Romario Caicedo scoring. With a mixed XI, Ismael Rescalvo’s men drew 2-2 at Tecnico Universitario on Saturday, which means they are eighth-placed in the Ecuadorian league table with 27 points in 19 rounds. Emelec won three, drew one and lost one of their last five matches and the same can be said about their last five travels. In fact, they already went to Brazil earlier this year, winning 2-1 at Cruzeiro.
Emelec will miss centre back Leandro Vega who was sent off last week, and Flamengo will have to go all forward to recover from the 0-2 defeat, so I have to expect an open game here.