Raphael Durand
Dailysports's expert
One of the clashes of Matchday 4 in the Copa Libertadores group stage will take place on Thursday at the stadium in Asunción, where local side Cerro Porteño will host Brazilian giants Palmeiras. Here’s my pick for the outcome of this showdown, offering a strong chance of success.
Match preview
Cerro Porteño began their campaign in this season’s Copa Libertadores not from the group stage, but from the qualifiers, and they have shown real ambition from the outset. In the first round, the Paraguayan side breezed past Venezuela’s Monagas, thrashing their opponents with an aggregate score of 7-1. In the second stage, Diego Martínez’s team confidently dispatched Peru’s Melgar – 5-2 over two legs. In both cases, the "Burgundy Blues" shifted gears at the right moment and calmly saw out the matches to a logical victory.
Drawn into a relatively balanced group, Cerro Porteño immediately made their play for a playoff spot. In the opening match, the Paraguayans took down Bolivia’s Bolívar, considered their main rivals for second place, 4-2. That was followed by a predictable away defeat to Palmeiras (0-1) and, in the third round, the team dropped points at home against Sporting Cristal. As a result, the club currently sits second in Group G, but Bolívar are only one point ahead.
Palmeiras were pegged as one of the main title contenders in the Copa Libertadores even before the tournament kicked off, and judging by their squad depth, those expectations are fully justified. The group draw was kind to the "Green and Whites"—with Cerro Porteño, Bolívar, and Sporting Cristal—where Abel Ferreira’s men were clear favorites.
And in the opening round, the Brazilians lived up to their billing—travelling to Peru for a hard-fought encounter, they snatched a 3-2 win over Sporting by turning up the intensity at just the right moment. On Matchday 2, playing at home, they edged out Cerro Porteño 1-0, and wrapped up the first half of the group stage with a thrilling 3-2 away win against Bolívar. With a perfect points tally, Palmeiras have all but guaranteed their place in the knockout rounds.
Probable line-ups
- Cerro Porteño: Fernández – Benítez, Morel, Valdez, Velázquez, Benítez – Carrizo, Jiménez, Piris – Torres, Agayo
- Palmeiras: Weverton – Fuchs, Gómez, Micael – Anderson, Martínez, Evangelista, Torres, Piquerez – Estevão, Roque
Match facts and head-to-head
- The teams have met 11 times in the Copa Libertadores, with Palmeiras winning five of the last five encounters and Cerro Porteño claiming just two victories in that span
- The "Both teams to score" bet has landed in four of the last five Cerro Porteño matches
- In their last three matches across all competitions, Palmeiras have won 1-0
Prediction
The bookmakers are expecting another Palmeiras win, and it’s hard to disagree, especially given the head-to-head statistics. The smart money here is on a Palmeiras victory at odds of 1.79.
