Deportivo Cuenca vs Liga de Quito
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Today’s secondary featured game is the Primer A encounter in Ecuador between heavyweight duo Deportivo Cuenca and Liga de Quito. Neither side has been at their scintillating best so far this season although the reasons for that vary considerably.
You see, Deportivo Cuenca had a lot of problems at the start of the season from a financial perspective and as a result, they ended up parting with a lot of good players i.e. Ianiero. However, their most notable departure was star Argentinian striker Escalada. He was their leading goalscorer but Cuenca were forced to sell him to Sporting Cristal in Peru and ever since then, Cuenca have looked impotent in front of goal. As they’re still one of the top sides in Ecuador, they’re still able to overcome some sides but they’ve had a substantial amount of quality leave the club and this is one of the two home games that they have in the Primera A per season where I can see it showing. The other, of course, would be their home game with Deportivo Quito. Incidentally, Cuenca have played Deportivo Quito at home already in the current campaign and drew 1-1. It cannot be overlooked that Cuenca have won just once in four home games this season, however, and that has to be a real concern for them. Their defence can still be solid but their attack is not a constant threat without Escalada and a good Liga de Quito side should be able to capitalise upon that tonight.
Liga de Quito can finally give their domestic campaign their full attention following their usual Copa Libertadores interest as they don’t have a game until early April now. You can see the depth of Liga de Quito’s squad with six wins in eight Primera A games despite having hefty Copa Libertadores commitments, however, and that’s the foundation of their continued success in Ecuadorian football. Aside from the international call-ups for Guagua and Dominguez, Liga de Quito have a largely full squad for this game as they welcome back in-form attacker Luis Bolanos. Liga de Quito have won three consecutive games ahead of this encounter so their momentum is strong here. Winning in Cuenca is never an easy task, especially without your number one goalkeeper and one of your best defenders. However, Liga de Quito have a lot of talent, especially in attack, and if they even score here than I fancy them to win the game because as determined as Deportivo Cuenca undoubtedly are to get a result off their more illustrious opponents, I just don’t think that their firepower is strong enough to do damage here.
Away wins in South America are never easy to call so do approach this game with caution. However, there’s a substantial quality difference between these two sides this season that wasn’t present last season and with Liga de Quito’s attention focused solely on the Primera A at the moment, you do have to fancy them to win this one, especially on the back of three straight wins whereas Deportivo Cuenca needed a last-gasp equaliser from Ayala to even draw at home to impotent El Nacional Quito last match so the cracks are beginning to show. For me, there does look to be value on the away win at 7/5 tonight.
Team news – Liga de Quito miss Guagua and Dominguez for this game.
Verdict: Liga de Quito to win at 7/5.
Wednesday’s Picks
My tips:
As ever, below are my recommended value tips for today in no particular order:
Fluminense vs America – both sides to score at 10/11.
I really don’t like betting on Mexican sides in this tournament as I’ve said many times before because they simply don’t prioritise this competition and it’s frankly ad hoc when they show up and when they don’t.
However, with Fluminense in such a state of disarray, I have to fancy America to cause a bit of a stir here. America’s defence is crap; we simply cannot avoid that fact. However, their attack is good under their new manager, even without long-term absentee Cabanas and they’ve actually only failed to score in three out of their fifteen competitive games in all competitions so far this season, managing to score in all of their Copa Libertadores games. Vuoso, Reyna, Marquez, and Sanchez all provide different assets to the attack of the wealthy Mexican side and for at least this stage of the competition, it cannot be denied that America do look quite strong. However, Fluminense disposing with their coach is not only going to rupture their Copa Libertadores campaign but also their domestic campaign if recent form is anything to go by. They lost their last game at home to a very poor Boavista side so I’d avoid backing Fluminense to win this game as they’re totally unreliable currently. However, they have brought back the likes of Deco and Fred, both of which were missing for their trip to Mexico lately upon which they lost 1-0 to tonight’s opponents America. Tonight’s game could and should be different as America often look stretched in defence away from home in the Copa Libertadores and Fluminense absolutely have the firepower to harm them.
If I had to enter the 1×2 market then I’d side with a surprise America win because Fluminense don’t look capable of beating anyone currently. However, they do have the ability to score goals in front of their own fans and America don’t really have the ability to stop them doing that so I have to envision goals being scored in this game. America had problems scoring goals last season but that isn’t their issue under their new manager as they seem to attack with far more purpose than before. Therefore, my call is for both sides to score in this game at decent odds of 10/11, especially with America missing number one goalkeeper Ochoa and Fluminense missing regular defenders Carlinhos and Leandro Euzebio.
Team news – Fluminense miss Carlinhos and Leandro Euzebio whereas America miss Ochoa, Cabanas, and Lopez.
Accumulator fodder:
Emelec Guayaquil, FC Honka Espoo.
Recommended bets:
Liga de Quito and Emelec Guayaquil at 2/1.
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
Copa Libertadores:
Godoy Cruz de Mendoza vs Independiente (6) over 2.5 goals
Fluminense vs America (3) both sides to score
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Charleroi vs Cercle Brugge (6) 1-0
Ecuadorian Primera A:
Emelec Guayaquil vs Olmedo Riobamba (8) 2-0
Deportivo Cuenca vs Liga de Quito (6) 1-2
Finnish Liiga Cup:
FC Honka Espoo vs JJK Jyvaskyla (8) over 2.5 goals
Singaporean S-League:
Geylang United vs Hougang United (7) 2-1
Enjoy your free betting tips!