Estudiantes Merida vs San Lorenzo Prediction: Can Venezuelan Start Positively at Home?

In the upcoming fixture of the Copa Sudamericana, Matchday 1 in the Group H fixture, Estudiantes Merida will be taking on San Lorenzo at the Estadio Metropolitano de Mérida in Venezuela. Going in the matchup, the two sides will share the field for the very first time in history. Estudiantes Merida are coming off regular season competitions in the Venezuelan Primera Division, whereas San Lorenzo has been performing decently in the Argentine Primera Division.

Going in the match against San Lorenzo, Estudiantes Merida is coming off a close win over Hermanos Colmenarez (1-0), in which Luis Arena scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute of play. Moving forward, Estudiantes Merida has won three, drawn one, and lost a fixture from its last five matches played. The home side for tomorrow’s match has scored 8 goals in the last 5 matches, averaging 1.6 goals per game. In contrast to the scoring average, Estudiantes Merida has conceded 6 goals, averaging 1.2 goals. In 4 of the last 5 matches, Estudiantes Merida has conceded a goal, whereas it has scored a goal in each of the last 5 matches played in the Primera Division. When playing at home, Estudiantes has won two of its recent three matches. Hence, the home side can orchestrate a winning performance against San Lorenzo.

Beycker Velásquez, Edison Penilla, Juan Medina, Alexis Doldan, Devinson Martínez, Aaron Rodríguez, Cristhian Rivas, Jesús Gómez, Wilfredo Peña, Ervin Zorrilla, Junior Paredes.

Going in the matchup, San Lorenzo is coming off a draw against Independiente (0-0) and a defeat against Newell’s Old Boys. Apart from the recent dents, San Lorenzo stands 2nd in the points table with 5 wins and 17 points. Taking the momentum shift forward in the Copa Sudamericana fixture, the Argentinian unit will look to maximize it’s performance and win away from home. San Lorenzo has been quite consistent when it comes to scoring, as it has scored 8 goals in the last 5 matches. However, in the last two outings, San Lorenzo’s attack did fail to score and improvise. With the presence of Barrios, Blandi, Martegani, and Vombergar in the lineup, San Lorenzo can certainly improvise and start well the Libertadores proceedings. 

Augusto Batalla; Rafael Pérez, Federico Gattoni, Gastón Hernández; Agustín Giay, Jalil Elías, Agustín Martegani, Malcom Braida; Andrés Vombergar, Nicolás Blandi, Nahuel Barrios.

If we compare the two teams on paper and on statistical grounds, San Lorenzo is certainly better than Estudiantes Merida. Though San Lorenzo looked a little off-color in the last couple of matches in Liga Professional, the upcoming matchup is likely to get them back in winning form. The match total is likely to be under 2.5 goals as both sides are unlikely to score. I am backing San Lorenzo to win and the final scoreline to be 0-2.

• San Lorenzo to Win for 1.66
• Both Teams to Score - No for 1.644
• Total Under 2.5 for 1.616