Aiming to pick up back to back wins for the first time since April, Olimpia welcome Atletico Nacional to Estadio Manuel Ferreira on Friday in matchday five of the 2022-23 Copa Libertadores group-stage campaign.
The home side are looking to confirm their place in the knockout phase, while the visitors can afford to take their foot off the gas a bit having got the job done last time out.
Match preview
Olimpia eased past the threat of Argentinian outfit Patronato courtesy of a 2-0 defeat when the teams faced off at Estadio Presbitero Bartolome Grella on May 25.
Diego Aguirre's men took the lead after just eight minutes through Ivan Torres before Diego Torres sealed the deal with a quarter of an hour left to play.
Consequently, El Decano remain second in Group H, two points adrift of top spot and five clear of nearest challengers Patronato heading into the penultimate round of group-stage fixtures.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing side who are still looking for their first triumph in this fixture having failed to come out on top in any of the previous three editions.
Having won just one of the last six games in front of their fans leading up to Friday's contest, the hosts will be keen to turn their home fortunes around here.
Atletico Nacional just about got the better of Peruvian side Melgar in a narrow 1-0 win to maintain their near-perfect Copa Libertadores record this term.
Despite being on the back foot for large spells of the clash, Paulo Autuori's men broke the deadlock two minutes from time through Danovis Banguero to come away with all three points.
That win saw Los Verdolagas secure safe passage into the next round of South America's biggest club competition with two group matches left to play.
Unbeaten in all but one of their last 14 outings on the road, Friday's visitors will back themselves to pick up another positive result away from home.
Team News
With six Copa Libertadores goals under his belt, Nacional's Dorlan Pabon is definitely one to keep an eye on as he looks to overtake Paulinho at the top of the scoring charts.
Eighteen-year-old Jhon Solis was sent off for two bookable offences in his last continental outing, making him ineligible to feature for the away side.
Olimpia's Guillermo Paiva heads into this one having scored in back to back matches and the forward will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Victor Salazar remains an injury doubt for this one after the defender sat out each of his side's last two outings due to a muscle problem.
Olimpia possible starting lineup:
Olveira; Zabala, Gamarra, Zarate, Romana; Fernandez, Cardozo, Torres, Gomez, Silva; Paiva
Atletico Nacional possible starting lineup:
Mier; Banguero, Zapata, Aguirre, Candelo; Gomez, Palacio, Deossa; Perea, Pabon, Palacios
We say: Olimpia 2-1 Atletico Nacional
The onus is largely on Olimpia to make home advantage count and confirm their place in the knockout round, so we expect them to be fully up for this one. We can also see the hosts emerging victorious come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
