We have reached the round of 16 stage in the 2021 Copa Sudamericana and on the 15th of July we have a meeting between Santos and Independiente.
The tie will be played over two legs and the first will see Santos as the hosts, with the match being played at the Estádio Urbano Caldeira.
Meus #MeninoDaVila! pic.twitter.com/BT0hb1zweo— Santos Futebol Clube (@SantosFC) July 13, 2021
Meus #MeninoDaVila! pic.twitter.com/BT0hb1zweo
Santos did not want to be participating in this competition having started the season in the Copa Libertadores group stage.
They were drawn with Boca Juniors of Argentina, Barcelona of Ecuador, and The Strongest of Bolivia. It is fair to say Barcelona caused something of a shock by winning the group and with Boca Juniors in second place, Santos finished third, level on points with The Strongest.
Santos won only 2 of their 6 Copa Libertadores games but both wins came at home, one of which was against Boca Juniors.
In terms of current form, Santos enter this match on the back of a 3-2 defeat at Palmeiras in the Brazilian Serie A. They have won only one of their last 4 games in all competitions but are undefeated in their 10 most recent home matches.
Trends show Santos have seen under 2.5 goals in 5 of their last 6 fixtures at the Estádio Urbano Caldeira and have kept a clean sheet in 5 of those 6 games, conceding just a single goal.
Unlike their opponents, Independiente started the season in the Copa Sudamericana and finished top of Group B. The club from Argentina were undefeated throughout the group stage of the competition and recorded 4 wins and 2 draws from their 6 matches.
Independiente completed one win away from home in the group, beating Guabirá 3-1 and were held to 2 draws, 2-2 at Bahia of Brazil and 1-1 at Montevideo City Torque of Uruguay. The latter draw needed a 91st minute equaliser from the penalty spot.
Recent form shows a 2-0 defeat at home against Colón in the Argentina league on the weekend but that was the first defeat for Independiente in their last 7 games in all competitions. Trends show Independiente have not lost a game in 11 of their last 12 matches in the Copa Sudamericana and they have seen under 2.5 goals in each of their last 3 fixtures in the tournament.
Looking ahead to the team news and Santos are without the injured trio of Sandry, Jobson, and Rafael Longuine.
Independiente travel without midfielder Carlos Benavidez and defender Ezequiel Muñoz, who are both injured.
The recent results of Santos at home in all competitions and Independiente away in the Copa Sudamericana suggest we are not going to see a great deal of goalmouth action in this game.
In fact, this match could level without a goal and that would make things interesting going into the second leg next week.