Barcelona SC square off against The Strongest on Tuesday with the opportunity to confirm their place in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores.
While the visitors have a 100% record and three successive clean sheets, The Strongest have lost every game in Group C without scoring a goal.
Match preview
© Reuters
Barcelona are not having it their own way in the Ecuadorian top flight right now, sitting in second position and two points adrift of top spot.
However, Fabian Bustos's side have emerged as one of the teams of this season's Copa Libertadores with three excellent victories, all without conceding a goal.
Their latest triumph came at home to Boca Juniors with Carlos Garces netting the decisive goal, taking his return to three strikes in as many appearances in this competition.
While seven goals looks attractive on their record, Bustos will take more satisfaction from being one of only three teams to shut out their opponents.
© Reuters
At a time when Barcelona have established themselves as one of the dark horses to lift the trophy later in 2021, The Strongest will almost certainly bow out at the end of the group stages.
The Bolivian outfit are not used to competing in this company, and that has showed with 10 goals being shipped without reply in 270 minutes.
Alberto Illanes will be relieved to be back on home territory, although the 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the reverse fixture is still fresh in his team's memory.
On a more positive note, Tigre sit at the top of the Bolivian Premier Division standings with 16 points from six matches to their name.
Jeyson Chura and Jair Reinoso are their key men with seven goals being scored between them on the domestic scene.
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Barring any late fitness issues, Barcelona could go with the same team which started the win over Boca Juniors.
That will leave the likes of Leonel Quinonez and Gonzalo Mastriani having to make do with a spot among the replacements.
The Strongest boss Illanes will inevitably make changes to the team which succumbed 5-0 to Santos.
Chura is among the players in contention for a recall, the versatile youngster potentially getting the nod over Ramiro Vaca.
Fran Pastor could also come into the team on the right flank at the expense of Rudy Cardozo.
The Strongest possible starting lineup:
Vaca; Torres, Castillo, Valverde, Sagredo; Wayar, Arrascaita; Pastor, Chura, Willie; Reinoso
Barcelona SC possible starting lineup:
Burrai; Leon, Pinatares, Riveros; Castillo, Molina, Martinez, Pineida; Hoyos, Garces, Diaz
We say: The Strongest 0-2 Barcelona SC
Given the respective records of the two sides, we can only predict a routine victory for the visitors. Complacency could be an issue, but Barcelona should have plenty in the tank to ease to another three points.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barcelona SC win with a probability of 43.42%. A win for The Strongest had a probability of 33.47% and a draw had a probability of 23.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barcelona SC win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (6.82%) and 0-2 (5.92%). The likeliest The Strongest win was 2-1 (7.68%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.23%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 4.4% likelihood.
