Nova Iguacu vs Audax Rio Prediction: Can Audax Upset Nova at Home?

In the upcoming fixture of Taca Rio Semi-finals, Leg 1, Nova Iguaçu will be up against Audax Rio at the Centro de Treinamento do Nova Iguaçu Futebol Clube. The two sides managed to stay in the top eight standings towards the end of Carioca Serie A and will be competing in the Taca Rio semi-finals. Nova Iguacu is coming off a win against Madureira RJ (4-0), whereas Audax Rio dominated Resende (0-2) in the last outing. Nova Iguacu and Audax Rio last played against each other in January, and the match resulted in a draw (1-1). 

Going in the matchup, Nova Iguacu is coming off a win against Madureira RJ (4-0), in which Breno, Everton, and Denilson took the charge of scoring. In Carioca Serie A, Nova Iguacu managed to secure two wins and a draw in the last 5 matches. Though Iguacu is playing at home, winning with a clean sheet might be tough against Audax Rio. Talking about the scoring and conceding average, Nova Iguacu has conceded goals at an average of just 0.50 goals in home fixtures. In comparison to the scoring average, the conceding average is 1.17 goals. Therefore, Nova Iguacu is likely to start defensively at home in the first phase of play. In 6 matches played against Audax, Nova has scored 9 goals at an average of 1.5 goals per game. 

Moving towards the semi-finals, Audax Rio produced an effort to stay unbeaten in the last 4 Carioca matches and finish in the top eight. In the last outing against Resende, Emerson and Higor played the trick for Audax. Moving forward with a goal scoring average of 1.85 goals per game (9 goals in the last 5 matches), Audax Rio will be certainly backing itself to score at least 2 goals. When playing away from home, Audax averages 1.00 goals per game, which makes them likely to at least score a goal. With the likes of Pablo Thomaz and Carlinhos in the lineup, Audax can rely on its scoring favorites.

If we evaluate the two sides, Nova Iguacu and Audax, both have managed to progress well and gain consistency. Though Nova Iguacu is playing at home and reflects a better goal-scoring average, I am backing Audax to win or the match to end in a draw. The match total is likely to be over 2.5 goals as the two sides are excelling with a goal-scoring average of over 1.5 goals in the last 5 outings. 

• Double Chance - Draw or Audax RJ for 1.57
• Total Over 2.5 for 2.4
• Denilson Carvalho da Silva To Score A Goal At Any Time - Yes for 7.5