The Copa Sudamericana round of 16 will get underway this week, and on Friday morning, we will see Nublense play host to LDU Quito in the first-leg encounter at Estadio Municipal Ester Roa Rebolledo.
The hosts come into the match off the back of a 2-1 win over O'Higgins, while the visitors have had over a month off, and they will now lock horns over two legs for a place in the quarter-final against either San Lorenzo or Sao Paulo.
Match preview
After finishing last season in second place in the Chilean Primera Division with 52 points in 30 matches, things have not gone according to plan for Nublense up to this point in this term, but they will be hoping to turn that around in this competition.
Jaime Garcia's men were drawn in Group A of the Copa Libertadores at the start of the season but had to drop to this competition after finishing in third place behind Racing Club and Flamengo, with a record of one win, two draws and three losses in their six group-stage matches.
However, their poor form has not been restricted to just the continental competition, as they currently find themselves in 11th place in their domestic league and 13 points behind league leaders Cobresal.
While they did secure a 2-1 win over O'Higgins last weekend, that victory brought an end to a five-match winless streak in the league and was just their second win in their last 11 matches in all competitions.
Nublense are the second-lowest scoring team in the Chilean Primera Division so far this season, with only bottom club Copiapo recording a lower tally, and despite having home-field advantage, they are still showing up as the outsiders on most bookmaker odds.
Meanwhile, LDU Quito were very good in their qualifying group, finishing in pole position with a record of three wins and three draws in their six matches and two points clear of runaway Brasileiro leaders Botafogo.
Their last league match ended 2-2 against Mushuc Runa and was enough to see them overtake Barcelona SC to end the first round of LigaPro in third place with 26 points which is the exact same tally they managed in the second round of last season.
LDU Quito's last match was played over a month ago against Cesar Vallejo in this competition, and while they won the match 3-0, it could have been much more as they fired a whopping 42 shots at goal and 17 on target.
That win extended their impressive recent record to 12 games unbeaten in all competitions, including five wins and seven draws while maintaining five clean sheets in that time.
With solid form and going up against an opponent that has struggled to find any sustained rhythm this season, Luis Zubeldia and his side will come into this match full of confidence and will fancy their chances of securing a lead to take back home for next week.
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Team News
Garcia has struggled to find the right combination this season, alternating between a three and four-man defence, with the latter being the preferred choice against stronger opposition.
Patricio Rubio brought an end to a nine-match dry spell by bagging a brace against O'Higgins over the weekend and should continue up front alongside Ismael Sosa.
After scoring the second goal against Cesar Vallejo in their last league match, Alexander Alvarado moved to nine goals for the first round of the season, making him the side's top scorer and the third-highest in the league.
Lucas Piovi and Mauricio Martinez have been excellent in the double pivot and should resume their partnership in this one, with Jose Enrique Angulo leading the line.
Nublense possible starting lineup:
Perez; Campusano, Zalazar, Caroca, Cerezo; Reyes, Rivera, Leiva, Valdes; Sosa, Rubio
LDU Quito possible starting lineup:
Gabbarini; Quinteros, Caicedo, Rodriguez, Quinonez; Piovi, Martinez, Ibarra, Julio, Alvarado; Angulo
We say: Nublense 1-1 LDU Quito
While the visitors come into the match with a better record in the first half of the season, they have conceded at least one goal in each of their last four away matches and may find it difficult to keep a clean sheet in this one as well.
The hosts have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, unbeaten in their last five, and cannot be counted out of the contest just yet. Our feeling is that these sides will cancel each other out by the final whistle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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