Cuiabavs.Palestino

In last week's opening leg, the Brazilians scored just beyond the hour mark to claim a 1-1 draw as they seek their first-ever trip to the last 16 of this tournament.

Match preview

It was another strong second half that rescued Cuiaba from defeat last week, as they remained unbeaten at Sudamericana this year.

Their last five goals scored at this tournament have come in the final 45 minutes of play, while two of their three strikes conceded also took place after the interval.

Despite their solid home form at the Sudamericana, Petit has seen his side go winless in four successive matches at Arena Pantanal across all competitions, losing the previous two by a single goal.

Thursday will be the first time they host a match at this stage of the tournament, though they did play one home game in a two-leg tie in 2016, defeating Chapecoense 1-0 but losing that return engagement 3-1.

Dourado have gone on to win 10 consecutive matches in all competitions when netting multiple times and are unbeaten this year when doing so.

Palestino got the start they were looking for last Wednesday but could not sustain that early momentum, leaving it all to play for in leg two.

The Chileans have not made it into the last 16 of this tournament since 2016 and will need a victory on Thursday to prolong that journey further.

In the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, their away form let them down as they claimed just one point from three matches as the visitors and were outscored by a combined margin of 6-2.

Over the weekend, Lucas Bovaglio lost his first match in charge of this team, 4-1 to Everton in the Primera Division de Chile, though this side have not lost consecutive encounters in all competitions since suffering three successive defeats in May.

On seven consecutive occasions across all competitions, this team have been able to find the back of the net at least once while losing just one of their previous five competitive fixtures.

Tino have only claimed one victory away from home versus a Brazilian opponent at this tournament, defeating Flamengo 2-1 in 2016.

Cuiaba Copa Sudamericana form:

W

D

W

D

W

D

Cuiaba form (all competitions):

D

L

D

W

D

L

Palestino Copa Sudamericana form:

D

Palestino form (all competitions):

L

W

W

D

L

D

Team News

We saw five new faces in the Cuiaba starting 11 last Wednesday who did not begin their final group fixture versus Lanus, including Bruno Alves, Rikelme, Andre Luis, Filipe Augusto and Derik Lacerda.

Deyverson had the equalising goal in the opening leg of this tie, his third of the tournament, drawing even with Fernando Sobral for second on the team and one fewer than Isidro Pitta.

For this decisive contest, Palestino will be missing Nicolas Meza because of a cruciate ligament tear, while Ivan Roman, Dilan Zuniga, Jonathan Benitez and Junior Marabel all featured in the starting 11 after beginning on the bench for their final group fixture at the Libertadores.

A 32nd-minute strike by Nicolas Linares was all the Chileans could manage in the opening leg of this tie last week, one of their three targeted efforts.

Cuiaba possible starting lineup:

Walter; Alexandre, B. Alves, Empereur, Rikelme; Mineiro; Sobral, M. Alves, Augusto, Cafu; Pitta

Palestino possible starting lineup:

Rigamonti; Rojas, Vejar, Suarez, Zuniga; Linares; Carrasco, Palacio, Davila, Benitez; Marabel

We say: Cuiaba 1-1 Palestino (Cuiaba advances on penalties)

Given what is at stake in this encounter, we expect the pressure may get the better of these two sides, who are unfamiliar with knockout football.

While it could be a nervy affair on Wednesday, we expect the energy and belief that Cuiaba have built up in this tournament will eventually pay off.

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