Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
CD Nublense
Audax Italiano
On July 14, Estadio Municipal Nelson Oyarzun Arenas (Chillán) will host the first leg of the 1/8 finals of the Copa Sudamericana, in which Ñublense will compete with Audax Italiano. The battle will start at 00:00 CET.
Ñublense
The club has got a rather long, more than 100-year (since 1916), but modest, in terms of achievements, history. Suffice it to say that the main (and the only) successes are the victories at the level of the Primera B. For instance, “the Red Devils” won the second division in 2020. And according to the results of the previous championship draw, it turned out to take the 2nd place – as a result, the team got the right to debut in the Copa Libertadores. As for an absolute beginner, the Chilean club showed quite a decent result in its group, especially if we take into account the sharp decline that is observed at the inner arena. Nothing happened in the struggle with Racing Avellaneda, but the home battle against Flamengo brought a 1-1 draw, and, that is the most important, 4 points in the confrontation with Aucas secured the 3rd place, and due to this, the opportunity to play in the play-offs in the Copa Sudamericana.
Audax Italiano
The team took its first big trophy, becoming the champion of Chile, back in 1936. It was conquered three times more, however, all those successes were in the middle of the previous century. Speaking about the current season, the maximum of “Los Tanos” is to be the middle peasant of the local Primera. Nowadays, by the way, the positions are seriously lost and “the Italians” “hang” out at the bottom of the standings. Still, they also played in the Copa Sudamericana due to the 7th position in the Primera of 2022. The team did it well, although it appeared there by means of the play-offs, where the fellow countrymen from Universidad Católica were beaten with a 3-2 score. Being already in the group, only Newell’s Old Boys, with which the team got only 1 point, was stronger. Nevertheless, Brazilian Santos gave an opportunity to get 4 points and Blooming was defeated in both matches. Thus, the play-off, already a regular one, was provided in advance.
The statistics of head-to-head matches
The clubs play in Chile and often oppose to each other. For a long time, Audax Italiano did not succeed in the matches against Ñublense, but both previous battles were won by Italiano, moreover, it did that in a confident way – 2-1 and 5-2.
Predictions
Bookmakers believe that it’s high time for the hosts to win. Still, taking into account the recent away defeat by Audax Italiano, it is worth having a closer look at the bet on “the guests do not lose” (odd: 1.82).
