The round of 16 in the 2023 Copa Sudamericana will get underway this week, with Ecuadorian side Emelec playing host to Argentine representatives Defensa y Justicia at Estadio George Capwell in the first of two legs on Wednesday.
The hosts finished second with nine points in Group B, two points behind the group winners, while the visitors topped Group F with 15 points, and these sides will now battle for a spot in the quarter-finals against either Botafogo or Guarani.
Match preview
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Emerlec would have seen last season as a poor one, finishing fifth in the first round of LigaPro and sixth in the second round of the season, compared to the first and second-placed finishes they managed in the 2021 season.
As a result, they missed out on a Copa Libertadores qualification spot and were almost knocked out of this competition in the group stages but managed a crucial win over Danubio in the final match of the group to overtake their opponents into second place.
In the knockout round playoffs, they secured a 1-0 lead in the first leg against Sporting Cristal, with Jose Cevallos finding the target in the second half, and they managed to hold on to that lead through the second leg, though they were far from convincing across the tie.
In league terms, the first phase of this season has been an absolute disaster for Hernan Torres's side, as they recorded just 14 points in 15 matches and finished in 13th place, just two points better off than bottom club Guayaquil City.
Over their 15 league matches, Emelec managed just three wins, five draws, and seven losses while also recording the worst home record of any side in the league, with just nine points taken from a possible 21.
The biggest issue they have faced this season has been in the goals department, where they were the lowest-scoring at home in the first phase and managed just 18 goals across the term, which was the third-worst return.
Meanwhile, Defensa y Justicia did not need a knockout round playoff to secure their place in the last 16, as the Argentine outfit recorded five wins and a loss in Group F, claiming the top spot by a five-point margin.
Julio Vaccari will be fairly content with his side's performance over the first half of the season, as they not only managed a last-16 berth in this competition but also made significant improvements in the Argentine Primera Division.
After a third-place finish in the first phase of last season, the Argentines dropped to 12th in the second phase, but they had a solid run again this term, finishing in fifth, and will be looking for even better in the second half of the season.
They ended the first phase just one point short of Estudiantes in fourth with 44 points in 27 matches and a record of 12 wins, eight draws and seven losses, scoring 36 goals while conceding 23 in that time.
On the road, Vaccari's side took 18 of a possible 39 points in the league, which was the fourth-best record, and they also won two of their three away fixtures in the group stages of this competition, scoring three goals in each of those wins.
Defensa y Justicia come into this match as the underdog, according to most bookmakers, despite having the better record in qualifying, and will likely be quietly confident that they can get a good result here considering how poor their opponents have been for most of the season.
Team News
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Torres has two absentees coming into this match, with Joel Quintero and Jefferson Vernaza both ruled out with a meniscal and knee injury, respectively.
Bryan Carabali scored the important opening goal for Emelec against Danubio and will likely continue down the left flank with Romario Caicedo on the opposite side.
Vaccari will have to make do without the services of Nazareno Colombo, who picked up a knee injury against Centro Espanol in a Copa Argentina match a couple of weeks ago and will be out until mid-August.
Nicolas Fernandez was the top scorer for the Argentine outfit and fourth highest in the league with 12 goals in the first phase, and he will likely return to lead the line after being rested against Union last weekend.
Emelec possible starting lineup:
Napa; Caicedo, Leon, Leguizamon, Carabali; Villalba, Cevallos, Mercado, Bolanos, Garcia; Angulo
Defensa y Justicia possible starting lineup:
Bologna; Tripichio, Malatini, Cardona, Caceres; Lopez, Gutierrez, Togni, Barbona, Solari; Fernandez
We say: Emelec 1-2 Defensa y Justicia
While the hosts have made it to the knockout stages of this competition, they have been very poor for the majority of the season and are likely to find it much more difficult as they come up against the better teams in the competition.
The visitors have not been incredible themselves, but they have been scoring relatively freely in this competition and domestically, and we fancy that they will be able to outscore their opponents in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
