In the early hours of Thursday morning, Colombian outfit Deportes Tolima host Brazilian side Flamengo in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores.
The first leg will go down at Tolima’s Estadio Manuel Murillo Toro, with second leg scheduled for next week at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Flamengo finished atop Group H, while Tolima finished second in Group D. Who can gain a first-leg advantage? It’s time to take a closer look at the teams – starting with the hosts.
Deportes Tolima lost just one of their six group games. As a result, they finished level with first-place Atletico Mineiro on 11 points.
They managed to score ten goals during the group stage, but they also conceded nine. Their defensive record is a slight cause for concern, especially with free-scoring Flamengo up next.
Not only have Tolima won three of their last four games in all competitions, but they have also won six of their previous nine.
When you look at the bigger picture, the Colombians have suffered just two defeats across their past 18 matches across all competitions.
As for Flamengo, they enjoyed an unbeaten group-stage campaign – securing five wins and one draw to finish five points clear atop Group H.
In addition to scoring 15 goals in six games (2.5 goals per game), they only conceded six goals (1 goal per game) – finishing the group stage with a healthy +9 goal difference.
The Brazilian side have recorded six wins and five draws in their previous 11 outings across all competitions, with their last draw coming back in mid-May.
Having lost five of their past seven outings in all competitions, Flamengo will be eager to get back on track this week.
Head-to-head: This is the first meeting between Deportes Tolima and Flamengo, meaning we have no previous results to assess for this matchup.
Team news: Deportes Tolima will be without the injured duo of Anderson Angulo (knee) and Juan David Rios (meniscus) for the first leg.
On the flip side, Flamengo have no injury concerns. It is worth noting that Everton Ribeiro, Gabriel Barbosa and Pedro each bagged three goals during that group stage.
With so much at stake, the first leg of this clash is likely to be a tense and cagey affair as both sides look to remain in the tie.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Deportes Tolima and Flamengo will play out a low-scoring draw – with both teams scoring under 1.5 goals.