Preview: Boca Juniors vs O'Higgins - prediction, team news, lineups

Featuring in their first ever knockout match at the Copa Sudamericana, O'Higgins will hope to cause a massive shock when they visit La Bombonera in Buenos Aires in leg one of their tie with Boca Juniors.

To get to this stage, the Chileans finished second in Group C, just two points below Sao Paulo, while Azul y Oro wound up third in their Copa Libertadores group, dropping them into this tournament.

Match preview

The Libertadores campaign did not turn out as they had anticipated, but Boca Juniors will hope to salvage some pride in the Sudamericana this year.

Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s men dropped points in their final three group fixtures of the Libertadores, relegating them into this competition for the first time since 2024.

This team have made it to the last 16 or further in their last two Sudamericana appearances, losing out on penalties to Cruzeiro at that stage two years ago.

The Argentines enter this upcoming contest having won their last two matches, without a goal conceded in either of those outings.

At the same time, before their friendly victory over Athletico Paranaense this month, they had failed to win their last three competitive games at home.

Boca have never lost a Sudamericana affair against a side from Chile, but failed to defeat Universidad Catolica at home in the first leg of that semi-final tie in 2005.

In the group portion of this tournament, O’Higgins were among the surprise stories, showing plenty of determination while beating out some experienced South American clubs.

Lucas Bovaglio’s men edged out Colombian side Millonarios in their final group outing 2-1 to advance into the knockout phase.

That was their only away victory in the group stage, though they won their last road game in early July, 2-1 over Union Espanola in the Copa Chile.

O’Higgins enter this encounter on a two-match winning run across all competitions, while going unbeaten in four of their last five competitive fixtures.

They had a 100% record in the group stage when netting the opening goal, doing so on three occasions while they lost both games in which they conceded first.

El Capo de Provincia have never scored a goal against a side from Argentina, with their best competitive result against that nation coming in the 2014 Libertadores group stage when they drew 0-0 at Lanus.

Boca Juniors form (all competitions):

O'Higgins Copa Sudamericana form:

O'Higgins form (all competitions):

Team News

For this match, Boca Juniors will be missing Rodrigo Battaglia, who is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, and Agustin Marchesin is out as well due to a cruciate ligament tear.

Leandro Paredes is unlikely to feature, having played the World Cup final just a few days ago in a match that could see him suspended for long time because of his antics afterwards.

Lautaro Di Lollo was among those who scored in Boca Juniors' last Libertadores triumph, with Santiago Ascacibar and former midfielder Ander Herrera also netting in a 3-0 win over Ecuadorian side Barcelona.

On the O’Higgins side, Bryan Rabello might not be available because of a left hamstring injury, and Martin Sarrafiore is questionable as he deals with a quad issue.

Francisco Gonzalez scored twice in group play to lead them at the Sudamericana, while Bastian Yanez and Alan Robledo netted in their victory versus Millonarios.

Boca Juniors possible starting lineup:

Brey; Braida, Di Lollo, Pellegrino, Blanco; Palacios, Alarcon, Velasco; Aranda, Gimenez, Zeballos

O'Higgins possible starting lineup:

Carabali; Faundez, Robledo, Brizuela, Diaz; Leiva, Ogaz; Gonzalez, Maturana, Yanez; Vecino

We say: Boca Juniors 3-0 O'Higgins

The intimidating atmosphere of La Bombonera and a quality team in a foul mood from their early Libertadores elimination might be too much for the Chileans to handle over 90 minutes.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.