International cups are a highlight for most teams. Both Defensa y Justicia and LDU Quito are looking forward to this Copa Sudamericana fight to decide who advances from the Group Stage.
Everyone involved with the away team has to get their travel gear ready for this match as there's a whopping 5700 kilometers to cover before arriving at the match.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Defensa y Justicia form and stats
The spoils were shared in Defensa y Justicia's previous game, also at home. Visiting Platense travelled back with a draw after a 1-1 scoreline. The striker Merentiel edged out all the other footballers in that match and managed a match rating of 8.04 out of 10. Merentiel scored one goal, hit three key passes and dribled past the opponent 4 of 7 times.
Prior to that, an away loss at Sarmiento in the Superliga.The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Justicia have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found 14 games) they have won nine times, drawn three and lost two.
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Defensa y Justicia as they are travelling to their away game against Union Santa Fe in the Superliga. That match is four days after this one.
LDU Quito form and stats
Last season their Copa Sudamericana adventure ended in the quarter-finals against Athletico PR.Quito won their last game, 3-2 versus Mushuc Runa played at home. Angulo came off the bench to score the winning goal in the match against Mushuc Runa last time out, making the manager Castellano feel like a tactical genius.
It was a Liga Pro defeat before that one as the away game against Orense wasn't a success with a 0-3 loss.The schedule is very tough for LDU Quito now as they have to travel again shortly after this match. A Liga Pro game at Independiente del Valle is waiting in only three days.
Just as the home team, LDU Quito have been through a few friendly games in the intense training period that just finished. The results from these training matches are 1 Quito win, 1 draw and 0 losses.
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  M. Merentiel Serrano 7 goals |  A. Alvarado Carriel 4 goals | T. Molina 4 goals |
Defensa y Justicia missing players
LDU Quito missing players
| Defensa y Justicia | LDU Quito | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 15 | 6 | Won | W | 4 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 5 | Drew | D | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 2 | Lost | L | 6 | 7 | ||
| 55 | 23 | Scored | S | 11 | 38 | ||
| 33 | 15 | Conceded | C | 18 | 34 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 88% | 92% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 83% | 84% | ||
| 72% | 62% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 42% | 48% | ||
| 44% | 23% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 17% | 32% | ||
| 32% | 15% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 12% | ||
| 80% | 85% | BTTS | BTTS | 33% | 48% | ||
| 12% | 8% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 28% | ||
| 8% | 8% | Failed to Score | F T | 42% | 24% | ||
| 4.6 | 5.4 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 5.8 | 6.2 | ||
| 5.8 | 6.1 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.6 | 4 | ||
| 1.5 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.9 | 2.4 | ||
| 3 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 4 | ||
| 11.6 | 13.1 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 7.9 | 10.3 | ||
| 5.2 | 5.3 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.9 | 5.2 | ||
| 42% | 33% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 23% | 29% | ||
| 12.6 | 11.7 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 9.6 | 8.5 | ||
| 4.4 | 4.3 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.7 | 3.8 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Atletico GO | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Defensa y Justicia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | LDU Quito | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Antofagasta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 3 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Atletico GO | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Defensa y Justicia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | LDU Quito | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Antofagasta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 3 |
