Sporting Cristal vs Emelec Prediction: Sporting Cristal favorite to win

The match Sporting Cristal – Emelec is scheduled for Thursday, July 13, 2023, at the Estadio Alberto Gallardo in Lima starting at 03:00. Sporting Cristal are playing well at the home stadium, and in this match, they are the favorite to win. However, Emelec will try to get good result in this match and use the home advantage in the second leg to advance to the next round. We can expect an tense match between almost equal teams.

Form: DWDWD

Sporting Cristal finished in 3rd position in Copa Libertadores and found themselves in this competition. Their form improved in the last four matches in Copa Libertadores, but the very bad start of the season cost them knocking out from the group stage. This team has the quality to go far in Copa Sudamericana, especially if they play well at home. They are undefeated in the last 15 matches, winning 9 and drawing 6 of them. After 3 rounds in the domestic championship, they have 2 wins and a draw, 5 goals scored and none conceded.

Form: WLDDW

Emelec advanced to the 1/16 finals in the last round of the group stage when they were under pressure to win against Danubio. It was their last match before the 2 weeks break and it’s a little unclear in what state the team will be after this break. In the last 14 matches as visitors, they managed to win only once, which shows how much this team struggle in away matches.

Sporting Cristal have perfect opportunity to win in the first leg of 1/16 finals of Copa Sudamericana against Emelec. They are playing well, they have home advantage and the opponent is coming back from break directly to this very important match. Sporting Cristal better team and their form is improved recently, while Emelec are struggling at away matches. I think Sporting Cristal will use the momentum to gain advance before the rematch in Ecuador.