Independiente - LDU Quito

Ecuador Serie A, Primera Etapa

These teams are currently occupying the 4th and 5th place in the league standings, some way behind leaders Emelec. However, the spirits are quite different, as Independiente's place is quite a feat, as they are usually a mid-table team fighting for survival, while LDU is gunning for the title. So obviously, the fans are not thrilled with this 4th place, and there are a lot of voices calling for some changes, after a recent bad run. Actually, both teams are coming from defeats here: Independiente lost 0-3 at lowly El Nacional, while LDU has 2 consecutive defeats, 0-3 at Barcelona and 1-3 against Deportivo Quito. So this is pretty much a do or die game for them. However, if we look at their results this season, all of their 4 defeats came against the big guns (Emelec, Barcelona and Deportivo Quito twice). Meanwhile, despite the fact that Independiente are undefeated at home, they have lost against some of the lower ranked teams (the aforementioned trashing against El Nacional, plus defeats at U Catolica and Manta). This is going to be tight, but Independiente has a few very important absences tonight: from a not so stable defense, they will miss Edgar Balbuena (13/0), in addition to midfielder Henry Leon (12/1) and forward Daniel Angulo (11/3). LDU also has a couple of absences, like midfielders Fernando Hidalgo (10/1) and Enrique Vera (11/0), but since they have a bigger squad, and a better squad - quality wise - they should also have better cover than Independiente has for their missing players. GL!

LDU Quito DNB @ 2.03, 4/10
Result: 1-2, WON