Santos – Estudiantes L.P. Prediction & Picks (25.04.2018)

Santos and Estudiantes meet at Estádio Urbano Caldeira, in a match for this phase of the Copa Libertadores (Group Stage).

Santos:

The home team is currently in the 1 st position of the league, with 6 points won, after 2 wins and 1 loss. In the penultimate match, they won in a home match against Nacional, by (3-1). In the last match, they won an away match against Estudiantes by (0-1). The team comes to this match after a loss away with Bahia by (1-0). In the last 10 home matches for all competitions, Santos won 5, drew 2 and lost 3. In 15 games, he suffered the first goal 6 times and never got the comeback. There are 2 periods that stand out in the last 20 home matches for all competitions: they scored 9 of their 24 goals between minutes (31′-45 ‘); He suffered 6 of his 15 goals between the minutes (76’-90 ‘).

With the first position in their group and missing 3 rounds to finish this phase, Santos has great chances of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition. We recall that the 2nd, the Students, his current adversary, has 2 points less, followed by the 3rd, the Real Garcilaso, which also added 4 points. The National-URU has only 2 points added. We emphasize that in these 3 games for the Copa Libertadores their average per game is 1.33 goals scored and 1 suffered, demonstrating a better offensive performance. The Brazilian team is a traditionally strong team and usually gives a lot of work to their opponents. We emphasize that Santos has 3 titles for the Libertadores, the last in the season of 2011. In his last participation, in the season of 2017, he reached the quarterfinals, but was eliminated by the Barcelona of Guayaquil in the group of matches, 1-2. For this confrontation against a direct rival in the group, the coach Jair Ventura will seek to try to channel the classification, doing his duty at home, with the support of his fans, to add another 3 points.

Estudiantes L.P.:

After 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, the away team is currently in the 2 nd position, with 4 points won. In the last match, they lost by (0-1) at home against Santos, after in the previous match, they won (3-0) at home against Real Garcilaso. In the last match they played, for the First Division, they lost with Belgrano at home (0-1). In their last away game, for the First Division, they won by (0-1) against the Board. In the last 10 away matches Estudiantes has won 3, tied 5 and lost 2. In their home matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 18 of the last 42 matches have ended with Under 1,5 goals and 27 out of 42 have ended with Under 2,5 goals. In 15 matches, they suffered the first goal 6 times and only managed 1 comeback.

With second place in their group, Estudiantes de La Plata is behind only their current opponent, Santos, who has 2 more points. However, the Argentine team is threatened by the 3rd, the Real Garcilaso, which also adds 4 points, while the National-URU adds 2 points. We emphasize that in these 3 games for the Copa Libertadores their average per game is 1 goal scored and 0.33 suffered, showing great defensive consistency. The team of Estudiantes de La Plata in general does not live a good time, finding difficulties to overcome their matches. But it should be noted that this team won the Copa Libertadores 4 times, being the last conquest in 2009. In their last participation for this competition, in the 2017 season, the visitors were eliminated in the group stage, remaining in the 3rd position, but with 1 point less than the first classified, the Botafogo-RJ and the Barcelona of Guayaquil. For this confrontation the Students of the Silver needs to make a good exhibition, to at least score, since it is threatened by the Real Garcilaso.