Preview: Universidad Catolica vs Estudiantes - prediction, team news, lineups

Visiting Claro Arena for the first time in a competitive fixture, Estudiantes will square off with Universidad Catolica in Santiago with a place in the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals on the line.

This tie is still very much up for grabs after the opening leg in La Plata last Tuesday ended in a 1-1 draw.

Match preview

Despite conceding early in Argentina, Catolica responded well, holding firm defensively for a long time before finding a breakthrough 10 minutes from the end.

The Chileans enter this game on a two-match unbeaten run across all competitions, with a chance to avoid defeat in the Libertadores for a seventh successive occasion.

Daniel Garnero’s side can also increase their home unbeaten run to seven consecutive competitive fixtures on Tuesday.

On the other hand, they dropped points in two of their three group matches at the Libertadores this year on home soil, but won the last one 2-0 at Claro Arena versus Ecuadorian side, Barcelona.

This century they have never advanced from a round of 16 Libertadores tie after drawing the opening leg.

A victory on Tuesday would mark their first appearance in the last eight of this tournament since 2010-11 when they ousted Gremio to get to that phase.

In what has been an inconsistent month of August overall for them, Estudiantes lost their focus at an inopportune moment in leg one.

The Argentines enter this contest having won just one of their last four competitive fixtures, netting as many goals in a victory over Gimnasia (4-0) as they had in all of their other August games combined.

Alexander Medina’s men will try to snap a three-match losing run away from home across all competitions this week, failing to find the back of the net in any of those other encounters.

That said, they have advanced beyond this stage of the competition in their last two appearances, while avoiding defeat in their two round of 16 away games this decade.

The four-time Libertadores champions have failed to win four of their last five second-leg affairs in the round of 16 at this tournament.

El Leon have only played one away match against Catolica in this competition, beating them 3-1 in Santiago in the opening leg of their 1969 semi-final tie and eventually lifting the trophy for a second time that year.

Universidad Catolica Copa Libertadores form:

Universidad Catolica form (all competitions):

Estudiantes Copa Libertadores form:

Estudiantes form (all competitions):

Team News

A knee injury will likely keep Juan Rossel on the Universidad sidelines on Tuesday, Clemente Montes is recovering from foot surgery, Sebastian Arancibia has a muscle tear, while Diego Valencia and Tomas Asta-Buruanga are out due to cruciate ligament tears.

Fernando Zampedri scored on his team’s only targeted effort last week, with the Catolica skipper netting his fourth of the Libertadores this year.

The only injury concern for Estudiantes is Santiago Arzamendia, who will not be available because of a cruciate ligament issue.

Joaquin Tobio Burgos had the lone goal for them four minutes into leg one, the first of the competition for him this year.

Universidad Catolica possible starting lineup:

Bernedo; Cerezo, Ampuero, Gonzalez, Mena; Valencia; Martinez, Zuqui, Cuevas, Giani; Zampedri

Estudiantes possible starting lineup:

Muslera; Meza, Nunez, To. Palacios, Benedetti; Castro, Piovi; Perez, Ti. Palacios, Burgos; Carrillo

We say: Universidad Catolica 1-0 Estudiantes (Universidad Catolica advances 2-1 on aggregate)

This should be another tight match, though we believe the composed Catolica backline will hold firm, while their patience and the form of their captain should be enough to see them through.

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