Juan Aurich - Santos

Copa Libertadores 2012, Group Stage

Juan Aurich, defending champions of the Peruvian league, but nowadawys, that title scares no one, not even the small Peruvian teams. With 5 matches so far this year, Juan Aurich have won none, losing both their Libertadores appearances (0-2 at Internacional and 1-2 at The Strongest), while from their 3 domestic matches, they only have one point, despite playing against some lowly teams like Jose Galvez, Union Comercio or Cobresol. Total lack of form, and I would be very surprised to see them rise from the ashes against the Brazilian giants, defending champions of Copa Libertadores. They started this year's campaign with an unbelievable loss in Bolivia, after wasting 4-5 great chances to score, before conceding the losing goal in the 90th minute. But, after that, they recovered nicely, beating Internacional 3-1, at home, with a hattrick from Neymar. No point in discussing quality differences here, as it is obvious the Brazilians are much better, and a full squad is expected from them, as they rested almost their entire team in the weekend match against Mogi Mirim. This time, there will be no altitude difference (unlike the match against The Strongest), so Santos should play at full power, and take the win. GL!

Santos (-0.75 AH) @ 2.04, 4/10

Result: 1-3, WON

Alianza Lima - Nacional

Copa Libertadores 2012, Group Stage

If there's Nacional, there is always a good setting for goals, and this should be no exception. Won't go into details again, but a good offense and a poor offense should do the trick again. Especially since neither of these teams can afford to lose points, and I am confident that both will go for the win. First of all, Nacional kick-started their Libertadores campaign with a huge surprise, winning 2-1 in Brazil, but all their hard work was wasted one week later, as they lost all points at home to Libertad. And since their home game with Vasco won't be even close to easy, they need to take some points from another travel, and Alianza seems to be the most accesible. Gallardo prepares a 4-3-3 tactic, with Viudez, Medina and Sanchez in attack, and Recoba and Bogghosian on the bench, so nice fire-power for the Uruguayans. Alianza is also desperate for points, as they currently have 0 after 2 matches. They still have 3 games to play at home, so there is still hope, but only one more wrong turn and they will be 99% out. Their defense is also on the poor side, managing to concede 7 goals in their 2 matches. They should also be well rested, as they had the weekend off. Also, from their 4 official matches of the year, all of them ended with at least 3 goals, while Nacional has 5 overs in 6 matches (except the last one, where they used a lot of substitues). Let's hope they keep with this trend. GL!

over 2.25 goals @ 2.02, 5/10

Result: 1-0, LOST