The final four teams in the Copa Libertadores will be revealed this week, and Palmeiras will look to secure their spot in the penultimate round when they take on Deportivo Pereira in the second leg of the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Last week at Estadio Alberto Jose Armando, Palmeiras put on an incredible display and come into this fixture with a four-goal advantage and with one foot already in the semi-final, where they will face either Boca Juniors or Racing Club.
Match preview
© Reuters
The Brazilian Serie A champions took the lead in the first leg inside the first quarter of an hour through a Raphael Veiga penalty and were home and dry by half time, with Marcos Rocha and Mayke adding to the tally by the break.
While Palmeiras did win the match by a big margin, they were not as dominant in the match as the scoreline suggests, though they were clinical with their finishing, with four of their five shots on target finding the back of the net.
Since then, they played one league match against Vasco da Gama over the weekend and secured a 1-0 victory, which was their fifth consecutive match without conceding in all competitions.
Abel Ferreira's team have won three and drawn just one of their four home games in this competition and have shortened significantly in price to go on to win back this trophy after bowing out in the semi-finals last season.
© Reuters
It is fair to say it does not look too good for the visitors here as they have a mountain to climb in this match, and it feels as though they need an early goal or two to keep their hopes alive of pulling off what would be an incredible comeback.
Alejandro Restrepo's side were outplayed on their home patch last week, and while they did play some attractive football in stages, they created very few good chances in the match and managed just two shots on target.
Unfortunately for the visitors, their poor form has not been ringfenced to just the cup competitions, as they are currently in 17th place in their domestic league with just five points taken in six matches.
In addition, Los Matecanas have failed to win any of their four away matches in this competition, losing to Boca Juniors and Monagas and drawing against Colo Colo and Independiente Valle in the last round.
While overturning the four-goal deficit may be too much to ask of the visitors, they will want to try at least to secure a win in the match, though it will not be easy to break down the solid Palmeiras defence on their home patch.
Team News
© Reuters
Eduard Atuesta has not featured for Palmeiras this season due to a cruciate ligament rupture and is expected to miss a large part of the remainder of the season.
The other absentees for Ferreira are Luis Guilherme, who is still recovering from a thigh injury and is only expected to rejoin the team next month, while Dudu was withdrawn in the first half against Vasco da Gama and reports suggest that he may be out for a while with a knee injury.
Aldair Quintana will continue between the sticks for the visitors in the absence of Santiago Londono, and he will likely have the services of Carlos Ramirez and Juan Quintero in central defence.
Rafael Navarro (knee), Yesus Cabrera (ruptured cruciate ligament) and Danilo Santacruz (muscle) are all ruled out of selection through injury.
Palmeiras possible starting lineup:
Weverton; Rocha, Gomez, Cerqueira, Vanderlan; Rafael, Montoya, Lopes, Veiga; Guimaraes, Rony
Deportivo Pereira possible starting lineup:
Quintana; Garces, Ramirez, Quintero; Moreno, Hernandez, Zuluaga, Vasquez, Medina, Bocanegra; Rodriguez
We say: Palmeiras 2-0 Deportivo Pereira
It is difficult to make much of a case for the visitors in this match as they were outmanoeuvred in the first leg and never really looked likely to get back in the match after going behind. The hosts may be tempted to give some of their key players a rest in this one, but we still expect them to manage a fairly comfortable win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Devesh Jaganath
