Emelec - Espoli

Ecuador Serie A, Primera Etapa

I know these handicaps are a little higher than what I usually like to take, but I think that it shouldn't be too hard to be covered, as there is a huge difference in quality between these teams, and there is also a huge motivation for the better teams. One week ago, despite being leaders, Emelec had the second chance to win the stage and qualify to the final. But after LDU's slump mid-week, Emelec's final chances have been increased a lot, and now they depend only on themselves to win it. 3 points here and they are in the final, so there's definitely huge motivation for the players. Espoli is the poorest team in the league, and are 100% sure of finishing this stage rock-bottom. Just 5 points snatched in their away games, making them one of the worst travelers. They won't move aside for Emelec to win this match, especially since their morale should be very good after last week's 5-1 trashing of Cuenca (but Cuenca is in a serious downtrend, so the only surprise here should be the magnitude of the score), but I really don't think they have what it takes to take points from Emelec. In their last 10 matches played in Guayaquil, Emelec won 8, all of them by at least two goals. And I think that is very likely to happen again, as Emelec has both quality and motivation on their side. GL!

Emelec (-1.5 AH) @ 1.84, 3/10

Result: 2-0, WON