Apertura 2013 Week 19: Cerro de Franco vs Olimpia and Cerro Porteño vs General Díaz previews

Cerro de Franco vs Olimpia
Estadio Felipe Gimenez, Presidente Franco
16/06/2013; 15:00 (20:00 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Olimpia, currently four games unbeaten, travel to the east of the country to try and finally beat Cerro de Franco there having drawn both away games the previous year. However this will be the first time ever that Olimpia have played in the Franqueño’s stadium, last year the games were down the road in Ciudad del Este. Cerro de Franco have been struggling recently even at home where they have just two points from the last five games.

Photo: Club Olimpia Oficial

Cristian Andersen is on the verge of joining Libertad but he will play in his usual creative role today with Sergio Samudio the main figure up front. Miguel Portillo’s side have found life difficult towards the end of the season, the smaller squad size and maybe feeling difference of not having Rogerio Leichtweis whose goals saved them of several occassions during 2012.

Olimpia are missing several players, Juan Manuel Salgueiro has gone to Uruguay for some R&R while Richard Ortiz played his final game for the club on Wednesday night. Even hattrick hero Juan Carlos Ferreyra is expected to take a back seat with Arnaldo Castorino and Enzo Prono leading the line. In defence it is the veteran duo of Julion Manzur and Carlos Humberto Paredes who will try and shore things up, El Decano have conceded 8 goals in the last five league outings.

Prediction: 1-1

Best Bet: Without Ortiz, Salgueiro, a makeshift defence and the fact that there is little league motivation it makes no sense backing the away side, knowing Cerro de Franco’s head-to-head record (4 draws, 1 defeat) the tempation is Cerro de Franco DNB to see if they can finally sneak that win against Olimpia

Cerro de Franco XI (probable): Juan Espinola, Gustavo Noguera, Jorge Aguero, Gustavo Velazquez, Cristian Ramirez, Pedro Vera, Salvador Portillo,  Miguel Godoy, Reinaldo Lopez, Cristian Andersen, Sergio Samudio

Olimpia XI (probable): Blas Hermosilla; Alejandro Silva, Julio Manzur, Carlos Humberto Paredes, Richard Salinas, Eugenio Montiel; Wilson Pittoni, Eduardo Aranda, Tomás Guzmán; Enzo Prono, Arnaldo Castorino

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

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Cerro Porteño vs General Díaz
La Olla, Asunción
16/06/2013; 17:50 (22:50 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Cerro Porteño need to keep picking up points for the Copa Libertadores race and also get back to winning ways having drawn with Olimpia and lost to a resurgent Luque in the previous two games. General Díaz are on a worse streak than today’s rivals of course, after five straight wins at the beginning of the season they haven’t picked up another victory taking just six points in the 13 matches since.

La Olla is the scene for today’s game

Chiqui Arce has got defender Carlos Bonet back in the side after a long layout with a knee problem but has lost Jonathan Fabbro to injury. That means Oscar Romero willl start as playmaker behind his twin brother Angel Romero, both youngsters have been on sparkling form with the twins contributing seven goals in the previous six fixtures.

General Díaz looking to end their poor run of form – Photo: Club General Diaz

General Díaz have managed to find the net again recently, scoring one goal in each of their last four matches but the defensive solidity has evaporated. Just one cleansheet in these 13 winless games tells its own story,  once again the Aguila´s defence will be tested by Cerro´s fluid attacking movement especially the pace and guile of the Romero´s with Guillermo Beltrán offering the physicality up front. It could be a tough day for the side from Luque who concede three the last time these two sides met.

Prediction: 3-1

Best Bet: Cerro have abundant attacking talent and General Díaz are defending poorly, I think Cerro -1 works here

Cerro Porteño XI (probable): Roberto Junior Fernández; Carlos Bonet, Luis Cardozo, Víctor Hugo Mareco, Danilo Ortiz; Mathías Corujo, Fidencio Oviedo, Julio Dos Santos, Óscar Romero; Ángel Romero, Guillermo Beltrán

General Díaz XI (probable): Mario Santilli; Walter Cabrera, Rolando Sanabria, Jorge Caceres, Diego Vera; José Avalos, Crisitan Sosa, Carlos Vera Segovia, Robert Noguera; Daniel Ferreira, Gabriel Avalos

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

For a list of my ‘Best Bets’ for all Sunday´s games, visit Free Bets Sport for my preview

By Ralph Hannah

Apertura 2013: General Diaz vs Nacional preview

General Diaz vs Nacional
Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
10/06/2013; 16:00 (20:00 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Nacional can wrap up the Apertura title, their third championship in four years, with a win today against a General Diaz team that was flying high. However, the Aguilas seem to have had their wings clipped as they are currently 12 games without a victory.

Caceres Cañete turns 36 today and is looking for the perfect birthday present – Photo: Club Nacional

Humberto Garcia relies on the normal central midfield pairing of Cristian Sosa and Carlos Segovia and up front will look to the experienced Daniel Ferreira. The team are usually physical and play in a 4-4-2 that can look like a 4-5-1 without the ball, they have profited from set pieces a lot this season.

This week the player’s have spoken about their spiritual unity, shown in the goal celebrations – Photo: Club Nacional Paraguay

Nacional were on the verge of winning the league just over a week ago but slipped up against lowly Luque with pre-title jitters assumedly creeping in. Having said that they should do the job today, Gustavo Moringio’s team have quality and steel especially the spine of Justo Villar in goal (who played on Friday for Paraguay against Chile), captain Raúl Piris who will win his third title with the club and in front of him in midfield Marcos Riveros who will surely want another opportunity abroad having failed to excel in Argentina. The technical quality and flair is provided by playmaker Cesar Caceres Cañete who proves three is the magic number having won titles in 2007 (Sportivo Luqueño), 2010 (Guaraní) and now is set to obtain the “triple crown” on his 36th birthday. Marcos Melgarejo has also been excellent on his return to the club from Libertad and like Raúl Piris will complete a hattrick of titles with the Tricolor assuming they do win today.

Prediction: 1-2

Best Bet: BTTS seems good with General Diaz nearly always managing to find the scoresheet and Nacional with just one cleansheet in their previous 5 games

General Diaz XI (probable): Mario Santilli; Walter Cabrera, Dionisio Mereles, Jorge Cáceres, Diego Vera; Pedro Arce, Cristian Sosa, Carlos Vera Segovia, Roberto Noguera; Alfredo Cano, Daniel Ferreira

Nacional XI (probable): Justo Villar; Ramon Coronel, Raúl Piris, Jose Caceres, David Mendoza; Ricardo Ortiz, Marcos Riveros, Silvio Torales, Marcos Melgarejo; Cesar Caceres Cañete; Julian Benítez

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

By Ralph Hannah

Copa Libertadores 2013: Olimpia vs Fluminense preview

Olimpia vs Fluminense
Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
29/05/2013; 21:00 (02:00 BST)
Quarter Final, 2nd Leg – 0-0 aggregate
TV: Fox Sports (Latin America); ESPN (UK)

Another record crowd, another night full of expectation in the Defensores del Chaco as Olimpia look for a place in the final four on the quest for their fourth Libertadores title. Fluminense will have cursed the name of Martin Silva several times last week as the big Uruguayan pulled off save after save to earn a valuable cleansheet for the Paraguayan side.

Silva was on top form in the first leg – Photo: D10.com.py

Olimpia have been surprisingly inconsistent defensively this year, they began 2013 with four cleansheets in five games – something they repeated between March and April – but they have still managed to concede 3 goals on seven separate occassions in their 26 competitive games this season. Although they looked fairly toothless in the first leg that was more in order to protect their own goal rather than a general scoring problem. In fact, Olimpia are averaging 2.6 goals at home in this season’s competition having never failed to score less than two goals to date. Salgueiro and Bareiro are the top scorers in the Defensores with 3 goals a piece but they will probably be accompanied by Juan Carlos Ferreyra to offer more of a presence up front.

Olimpia fans with their mosaic against Tigre – Photo: D10.com.py

Undoubtedly Fluminense were on top in the previous game and the energy of Rahyner was particularly hard for El Decano to deal with. They are expected to line up with the same team which is interesting considering the changes of personnel in the opposition. They are currently on a poor run of four away games without a win in the Copa Libertadores knockout stages, something they’ll be hoping to end tonight although a score-draw would see them through.

Olimpia XI (probable): Martín Silva; Salustiano Candia, Herminio Miranda, Julio Manzur; Richard Salinas, Jorge Baez, FAbio Caballero, Richard Ortiz; Juan Manuel Salgueiro; Fredy Bareiro, Juan Carlos Ferreyra

Fluminense XI (probable): Diego Cavalieri, Bruno, Digão, Leandro Euzébio, Carlinhos; Edinho, Jean, Wagner; Wellington Nem, Rhayner, Fred.

Prediction: 2-1

Selected Odds: Olimpia win 2.78, Draw 4.4, Fluminense win 2.88, 2-1 win 11.0, Over 2.5 goals 2.18

Best Bet: BTTS looks the way to go with both teams needing to score to qualify, also while Olimpia have the capability of scoring I’m unconvinced they have the defense to stop the Brazilians finding the net at least once.

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Stats and Trivia

Olimpia vs Brazilian opposition (All Continental Competitions)

Pld 76 W 22 D 22 L 32 GF 91 GA 117

Olimpia in Asunción (All Continental Competitions)

Pld 217 W 111 D 59 L 47 GF 351 GA 219

Last time Olimpia drew the 1st leg away from home 0-0 they won the return 2-0 to progress – that was in the preliminary round versus Defensor Sporting

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Authors Note: All odds are selected from Betfair Sports and accurate at the time of writing, there is a live market on this game

For more football previews check out CaStRoF’s betting tips

Apertura 2013: Olimpia vs Nacional preview

Olimpia vs Nacional
Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
26/05/2013; 17:20 (22:20 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Once again Olimpia will field an alternative side as they concentrate on the Copa Libertadores, in theory it should be an easy win for Nacional although they could be suffering from complacency with the league title all but wrapped up. The Academia have only failed to score once this year and are averaging 2.2 goals per game as they sweep everybody aside, Olimpia have had their defensive lapses this season and concede almost 1.5 goals a game (1.43 to be precise).

Club Olimpia Oficial

It is a reserve team once again for Ever Almeida after the dogged result in Brazil has given them a golden chance to reach the last four on Wednesday. The safe pair of hands that is Martin Silva is replaced by the slightly more ‘flappy’ Victor Centurión and the defence that conceded three against Guaraní last week is likely to be employed. Up fron the good news is that Tanque Ferreyra starts again, his double last week was fully deserved for a typically physical performance from the Argentine battering ram.

This week the player’s have spoken about their spiritual unity, shown in the goal celebrations – Photo: Club Nacional Paraguay

Nacional have been unfazed by everything to date – they are swashbuckling against the smaller teams and in the big games they grind out results, just like the 1-0 win over Libertad two games ago. Justo Villar has been immense in goal while up front Julian Benítez has been scoring goals for fun, in fact that one game Nacional failed to score in was when Benítez was ineligible to play. Marcos Melgarejo is a player who deserves a chance outside of the country, the left-footer can play on either flank and often tests the goalkeeper having got behind his full-back with a clever run. The veteran Cesar Cáceres Cañete is simply a joy to watch, working in pockets of space with deft touches and incisve passing that makes up for his limited movement around the pitch.

Prediction: 1-2

Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals is the way to go, both sides more than capable of scoring but Olimpia’s leaky defence a cause for concern for the home team

Olimpia XI (probable): Victor Centurión; Aquilino Giménez, Kike Meza, Carlos Paredes, Richard Salinas; Blas Cáceres, Eduardo Aranda, Hernan Perez, Alejandro Silva; Juan Carlos Ferreyra, Enzo Prono

Guarani XI (probable): Justo Villar; Ramon Coronel, Raúl Piris, Jose Caceres, David Mendoza; Ricardo Ortiz, Marcos Riveros, Silvio Torales, Marcos Melgarejo; Cesar Caceres Cañete; Julian Benítez

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

For a list of my ‘Best Bets’ for all Week 16′s games, visit Free Bets Sport for my preview

By Ralph Hannah

Copa Libertadores 2013: Fluminense vs Olimpia preview

Fluminense vs Olimpia
Estadio São Januario, Rio de Janeiro
21/05/2013; 21:00 (02:00 BST)
Quarter Final, 1st Leg
TV: Fox Sports (Latin America); ESPN (UK)

Olimpia are amongst the best 8 teams in South America and alongside Boca Juniors the only former champions still remaining in this year’s tournament. It has been an emotional (and lucrative) journey so far that not many would have precited after the opening game of their campaign, a drab 0-0 draw in the Preliminary round.  Tonight they face a team that also reached the quarter finals last year only to be knocked out by Boca Juniors, Brazil’s Fluminense are one of the most expensive squads in the competition with players such as Fred, Rafael Sobis and Deco in their ranks.

Photo: Club Olimpia Oficial

Olimpia haven’t met Fluminense before in international competition but the bad news is that they have never won in Rio de Janeiro in six attempts, drawing three and losing three. The most recent game was a thrilling 3-3 draw with Flamengo when El Decano scored a hattrick of goals in just 15 minutes to level the game. Incidentally the previous two times they won the cup (1990 and 2002) they also played games in Rio. The team is likely to be very similar to the line-up that defeated Tigre in the previous round, once again all eyes are on Fredy Bareiro up front who has found the net five times and sits just one goal behind topscorer Jô. In defence Herminio Miranda has been a revelation with his goalscoring and Salustiano Candia has been relatively impressive to date – they will have a difficult task tonight trying to contain Fluminense.

Current squad pay homage to the former winners – Photo: D10.com.py

Apart from the danger of former Lyon striker Fred, Olimpia have to contend with the confined surroundings of one of South America’s most intimidating arenas – the São Januario holds just 25,000 people but on entering the pitch the Paraguayan club will feel that the whole crowd are on top of them trying to squeeze the life out of them. Keep an eye out on referee Roberto Silvera’s performance as the Uruguayan will have a tough job in font of this crowd.

Fluminense XI (possible): Diego Cavalieri, Bruno, Digão, Leandro Euzébio, Carlinhos; Edinho, Jean, Wagner; Wellington Nem, Rhayner, Fred.

Olimpia XI (probable): Martín Silva; Salustiano Candia, Herminio Miranda, Julio Manzur; Richard Salinas, Jorge Baez, Eduardo Aranda, Richard Ortiz, Sebastián Ariosa; Juan Manuel Salgueiro; Fredy Bareiro

Prediction: 1-1

Selected Odds: Fluminense win 1.5, Draw 4.4, Olimpia win 8.2, 1-1 draw 8.4, Under 2.5 goals 1.82

Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals – just one of Flu’s home games went over (a 0-3 reverse to Grêmio) and expect this match to be tight with Olimpia unlikely to over-committ themselves.

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Stats and Trivia

Olimpia vs Brazilian opposition (All Continental Competitions)

Pld 75 W 22 D 21 L 32 GF 91 GA 117

Olimpia in Rio de Janeiro (Copa Libertadores)

Pld 4 W 0 D 3 L 1 GF 4 GA 5

Olimpia’s results on 22nd of the month in continental comps – W 4 D 1 L 3

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Authors Note: All odds are selected from Betfair Sports and accurate at the time of writing, there is a live market on this game

For more football previews check out CaStRoF’s betting tips

2013 Apertura Week 14: Olimpia vs Guaraní preview

Olimpia vs Guaraní
Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
19/05/2013; 18:20 (23:20 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

The clásico añejo is the oldest game in Paraguayan football and it will be Guaraní who are the more motivated, a win could take them into second place after a slow start to the year. Olimpia are fully concentrated on the Copa Libertadores quarter final next week against Fluminense, with that in mind it is a team unrecognizable from the side that won in this stadium in midweek against Tigre. It will be the 274th meeting between the sides, Olimpia have 130 wins, Guarani have 72 and there have been 71 draws.

Olimpia fans won’t be out in quite as many numbers tonight – Photo: D10.com.py

There is no doubt that a quarter-final tie outweighs a league match and Ever Almeida is resting almost everybody and fielding a parallel side. There is still plenty of quality, Arnaldo Castorino has three in his previous two league matches including a fabulous winner against Luque. In defence he is likely to go to four at the back with Enrique Meza and Carlos Paredes providing experience in the middle of the defensive line. Tomás Guzman has a chance to shine as playmaker instead of Juan Manuel Salgueiro.

Dante López is up front for Guarani – Photo: D10.com.py

Guaraní pulled off a great win against Libertad only to draw with lowly Capiatá the following weekend, it has been the story of their season yet they are still in with a good chance of Copa Libertadores qualification thanks to their respectable points total. The partnership of Dante López and Rodrigo Teixeira will definitely test the Olimpia rearguard today and the aurinegro will definitely be highly motivated knowing that a win can catapult them up the table.

Prediction: 1-2

Best Bet: The result should go in Guaraní’s favour but their inconsistency makes me prefer betting on Over 2.5 goals today

Olimpia XI (probable): Victor Centurión; Aquilino Giménez, Kike Meza, Carlos Paredes, Eugenio Montiel; Jorge Báez, Fabio Caballero, Hernan Perez, Tomás Guzman; Arnaldo Castorino, Enzo Prono

Guarani XI (probable): Pablo Aurrecochea, Eduardo Filippini, Julio César Cáceres, Miguel Paniagua, Edgar Aranda, Juan Aguilar, Marcelo Palau, Sergio Orteman, Luis De la Cruz, Rodrigo Teixeira, Dante López

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

 

For a list of my ‘Best Bets’ for all Week 14′s games, visit Free Bets Sport for my preview

By Ralph Hannah

Apertura 2013 Week 14: Cerro de Franco vs Cerro Porteño preview

Cerro de Franco vs Cerro Porteño
Estadio Don Felipe Gimenez, Presidente Franco
18/05/2013; 15:00 (20:00 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

The two Cerro’s meet in the east of the country for the third time since 2012 with Cerro Porteño hoping to record their third win as visitors. They go into the game on the back of two comprehensive wins and the player’s seem to have been paid all the bonuses owed (although it is unclear if they are owed wages still). Cerro de Franco on the other hand have lost their previous two games and are without a win in four, that negative record could be extended today.

Photo: Club Cerro Porteño

Cerro de Franco have relied mainly on their home form with last week’s defeat to Rubio Ñu their first in Alto Parana in 2013. Having said that they always struggle against their namesake’s from Asunción and haven’t beaten them since ascending to Primera last year. Last week’s 4-1 defeat to Nacional exposed their frailities in defence, they’ve conceded 21 goals so far in 13 games, in last year’s Apertura they only let in 29 in all 22 games.

Cerro Porteño are purring, the 4-0 win against Sol was followed up by a 3-0 versus Carapeguá the most important thing being the two cleansheets, something that was amiss in Chiqui Arce’s early games. Fabbro is playing well and in his favoured position with the wonderful movement of Angel Romero giving the playmaker more space to work with. In defence there is one change from last week as Gonzalo Viera steps in for the (unfairly) suspended Teodoro Paredes as one of the three centre backs. In midfield Nestor Ramirez is growing into his position in left wingback having replaced Jorge Balbuena (also suspended).

Prediction: 1-2

Best Bet: Away win here, momentum with Cerro Porteño and Chiqui Arce has got them playing how he wants

Cerro de Franco XI (possible): Francisco Olmedo; Gustavo Noguera, Jorge Aguero,  Gustavo Velazquez, Cristian Ramirez; Reinaldo Lopez, Miguel Godoy, Salvador Portillo, Cristian Andersen; Claudio Delgado, Sergio Samudio

Cerro Porteño XI (confirmed): Roberto Fernández; Gonzalo Viera, Luis Cardozo, César Benítez; Matías Corujo, Fidencio Oviedo, Julio dos Santos, Néstor Ramírez; Jonathan Fabbro; Ángel Romero, Guillermo Beltrán

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

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For a list of my ‘Best Bets’ for all Week 13′s games, visit Free Bets Sport for my preview

By Ralph Hannah

Copa Libertadores 2013: Olimpia vs Tigre preview

Olimpia vs Tigre
Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
16/05/2013; 19:00 (00:00 BST)
Last 16, 2nd Leg; 1-2 agg
TV: Fox Sports (Latin America); ESPN (UK)

Expect an electric atmosphere despite the cold temperatures forecasted in Asunción tonight – Olimpia have been building up to this fixture for over a week with seats selling like hot chipa, in fact it is set to break the record for the highest ever gate receipts for a sporting event in Paraguay. Tigre lead 2-1 from the first leg but they are without star man Ruben Botta, injured in that game, and are not usually as strong on their travels. Ever Almeida’s team have plenty to be optimistic about.

Photo: Club Olimpia Oficial

Olimpia need to score to qualify, something that shouldn’t be a problem for the side that average over two goals per game in this year’s tournament, in fact their average over the last two years of Copa Libertadores football is 1.9 goals per game. If they do score it will be their 350th continental goal scored in Asunción, an important landmark. The man most likely to get that goal is Fredy Bareiro although we should watch out for Herminio Miranda – he followed up his freekick against Tigre in the first leg with another one last weekend. With El Decano likely to score the onus is really on the backline to comply with their end of the deal, a cleansheet maybe beyond them with injury to Kike Meza meaning Manzur is included in the central defensive trio, he is a bit slower than the rest and could be vulnerable to the counter.

Poor defending of crosses cost Olimpia in the first game

Tigre are without Ruben Botta as mentioned above but it is worth repeating as it is a huge blow to the Argentine side managed by former Copa Libertadores winner Nestor Gorosito. Knowing that a cleansheet will get them through there is a temptation for them to defend and sit back, in fact that is their usual tactic but Olimpia must be aware of their danger on the counter-attack. The speed and incisiveness of Tigre’s play on the break has already put pay to Cerro Porteño and Libertad in last year and this year respectively. The burning question is if they can be as effective without Botta.

One thing worth pointing out is that Tigre were beneficiaries of the referee in the previous game something that often happens with home teams – Olimpia are home tonight, their supporters will do their best to ensure the 50/50 decisions go the Paraguayans way.

Olimpia XI (probable): Martín Silva; Salustiano Candia, Herminio Miranda, Julio Manzur; Aquilino Gimenez, Alejandro Silva, Eduardo Aranda, Richard Ortiz, Sebastián Ariosa; Juan Manuel Salgueiro; Fredy Bareiro

Tigre XI (probable): Javier García; Alejandro Donatti, Mariano Echeverría, Norberto Paparatto, Lucas Orban; Martin Galmarini, Gabriel Peñalba, Ramiro Leone, Diego Ferreira, Matías Perez García; Leandro Leguizamon

Prediction: 3-1

Selected Odds: Olimpia win 1.96, Draw 3.75, Tigre win 4.3, 3-1 home win 17.5, Over 2.5 goals 1.89

Best Bet: Home win for me, Tigre are without Botta, they don’t travel well while Olimpia’s fans will create a special atmosphere tonight to spur on the team

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Stats and Trivia

Olimpia vs Argentine opposition (All Continental Competitions)

Pld 61 W 22 D 17 L 23 GF 77 GA 86

Olimpia in Asunción (All Continental Competitions)

Pld 216 W 110 D 59 L 47 GF 349 GA 219

Olimpia’s only other Copa Libertadores games on 16th May were also in Asunción, a 3-0 victory over Palestino of Chile in 1979 and 1-0 vs Boca in 2002, two years in which they won the tournament. Good omen or what?

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Authors Note: All odds are selected from Betfair Sports and accurate at the time of writing, there is a live market on this game

For more football previews check out CaStRoF’s betting tips

Apertura 2013 Week 13: General Díaz vs Olimpia and Nacional vs Cerro de Franco previews

General Díaz vs Olimpia
Juan Canuto Pettengill, Itaguá
11/05/2013; 17:00 (22:00 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Only the second ever meeting between the sides with General Diaz the victors of the first match up, a typically hard-fought 1-0 win. Since that win the Aguilas have got worse while Olimpia have recovered their form and are winning at all costs – even last week when they conceded three to Luque!

Photo: Club Olimpia

The game is on neutral ground with General Diaz still unable to use their stadium in the Primera division, both teams travel out to Itaguá for this one. Gabriel Avalos is set to start up front, he scored the winner in the previous meeting. The combative defensive partnership of José Cáceres and Dionisio Mereles are likely to have their hands full today with the physical ‘Tanque’ Ferreyra starting up front for Olimpia.

General Diaz celebrated in unusual fashion against Capiatá – Photo: General Diaz FBC

With the Tigre game next week the priority, Ever Almeida is expected to ring the changes and there could be a rare start for Enzo Prono who will offer the pace and movement behind Ferreyra. Youngster Eugenio Montiel should come in on the left while there is a return to the starting XI for Jorge Baez who had made way recently. In defence both Julio Manzur and Enrique Meza are unlikely to play any part.

Prediction: 0-2

Best Bet: Although it is a ‘weakened’ team there are plenty of players who will want to stake a place in the Olimpia first team, the opposition are also in a slump – Away Win

General Díaz XI (probable): Arístides Florentín; Walter Cabrera, Dionisio Mereles, Jorge Cáceres, Marcos Gamarra; Alfredo Cano, Cristian Sosa, Carlos Vera Benítez, Diego Vera; Robert Noguera, Gabriel Ávalos

Olimpia XI (probable): Martín Silva; Carlos Humberto Paredes, Herminio Miranda, Salustiano Candia; Aquilino Giménez, Jorge Báez, Fabio Caballero, Richard Ortiz, Eugenio Montiel; Enzo Prono, Juan Carlos Ferreyra

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

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Nacional vs Cerro de Franco
Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
11/05/2013; 19:10 (00:10 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Cerro de Franco were the only team to defeat Nacional in the first round of games, they will now try to do the double over the league leaders as they make the trip from the East over to Asunción. Gustavo Moringio plans to bring in some fresh faces to ward off fatigue as the Academia try and stay on course for their 9th league title.

Nacional racked up win number 10 against Carapeguá on Monday – Photo: Club Nacional

While we can’t be sure who will make way, all indications suggest that Marcos Miers, Carlos Ruiz Peralta and Ramón Cardozo will be handed a start tonight in Sajonia. Julian Benitez is the form man up front, scoring 10 goals this season and is usually the player to break the deadlock so don’t be surprised if he opens the scoring. The home side will more than likely dominate the midfield – Marco Melgarejo was on the scoresheet against Carapeguá, Marcos Riveros the game before that (vs Cerro Porteño) and Silvio Torales before that (vs Sol).

Cerro de Franco are having another good season and are still out of the danger zone, they have relied mainly on their home form with last week’s defeat to Rubio Ñu their first in Alto Parana in 2013. They are yet to win in Asunción with their best result being a 1-1 draw which they’ve managed on three occassions. This is by far their hardest test on the road to date as Nacional are on such good form.

Prediction: 3-0

Best Bet: Positive it will be a home win, maybe go for Nacional -1 on the Asian Handicap to boost your value as they’ve been scoring freely recently (10 goals in 3 games)

Nacional XI (probable): Justo Villar; Ramon Coronel, Raul Piris, Leandro Caceres, Marcos Miers; Carlos Ruiz Peralta, Silvio Torales, Marcos Riveros, Marcos Melgarejo; Julian Benitez, Ramon Cardozo

Cerro de Franco XI (probable): Francisco Olmedo; Gustavo Noguera, Marco Perez, Gustavo Velazquez, Cristian Ramirez; Reinaldo Lopez, Miguel Godoy, Salvador Portillo, Cristian Andersen; Claudio Delgado, Sergio Samudio

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

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For a list of my ‘Best Bets’ for all Week 13′s games, visit Free Bets Sport for my preview

By Ralph Hannah

Apertura 2013 Week 12: Libertad vs Guaraní and Olimpia vs Luque previews

Libertad vs Guaraní
Nicolas Leóz, Asunción
05/05/2013; 16:00 (21:00 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Always a spicy encounter between Asunción’s most successful clubs outside of the big two – in fact this could be considered a clásico such is the rivalry. The opening game was a 1-1 draw, Libertad hitting back after a lighting quick start by Guaraní. It increased the Gumarelo’s unbeaten streak in this fixture to nine games.

Guarani scored early last time but couldn’t hold on for win – Photo: Prensa Club Guaraní

There was a definite slump by Libertad that cost them a place in the knockout phase of the Copa Libertadores, a failure by their standards, and has made the league title difficult. Having said that they are unbeaten in 8 league games, conceding just four goals (three of those were to Sol de América). The last two games have been wins to nil and there is a feeling that the defending champions are back to their title-winning best. Israel is likely to name the same group of players that beat Luque in midweek.

Libertad beat Luque in midweek – Photo: Prensa Club Libertad

Guaraní have a terrible case of inconsistency that has blighted them for over six months, the last time they won two games back-to-back was in November last year. They haven’t won away in the previous three matches and you have to go back almost a year to Libertad’s previous home defeat in the league (Sol de América on 12/05/2012). Diego Alonso is set to make changes with Sergio Orteman and Dante López returning to the side, there is blow as Dario Ocampo is injured but his replacement Ivan Gonzalez Ferreira also has the ability to unbalance the rival defence.

Prediction: 2-1

Best Bet: Home win for me today with the Guma starting to purr again

Libertad XI (probable): Rodrigo Muñoz; Aldo Olmedo, Gustavo Gomez, Ismael Benegas, Miguel Samudio; Nelson Romero, Pablo Guiñazú, Sergio Aquino, Jorge Gonzalez; José Ariel Nuñez, Pablo Velazquez

Guarani XI (probable): Pablo Aurrecochea, Eduardo Filippini, Julio César Cáceres, Miguel Paniagua, Edgar Aranda, Juan Aguilar, Marcelo Palau, Sergio Orteman, Ivan González Ferreira, Rodrigo Teixeira, Dante López

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

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Olimpia vs Luque
Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
05/05/2013; 18:20 (23:20 BST)
TV: Unicanal (Paraguay)

Olimpia have a chance to get the second round of games off to the best possible start with a fixture against bottom-placed Luque who were hit with a 30-day stadium ban following Wednesday’s riots. The violence started after a 3-0 defeat against Libertad, yet another game in which the auriazul have failed to score, they have just 3 goals all year.

Photo: Club Olimpia

Ever Almeida has the Copa Libertadores to consider and has to manage his players carefully, it is important to give some players rest but he also doesn’t want people short of match practice. Almeida seems to believe in the latter so he makes just one forced change, an injury to Julio Manzur means the Colombian youngster Yair Ibarguen is in line for a call up. The Salgueiro-Bareiro duo continues up front which is a shame for Arnaldo Castorino who scored twice in the previous league match to Sol de América

Terrible scenes in Luque on Wednesday – Photo: D10.com.py

Luque are in turmoil and things won’t be easy today but they can draw strength from the fact Olimpia have lost their previous three games and their recent record against El Decano is decent, two wins and just one defeat in the last four meetings. With so much talk about the violence I’ve been unable to find infomation on the Luque line up but expect changes from the XI that were beaten so easily by Libertad, goalkeeper Ever Caballero is suspended having been sent off in that encounter.

Prediction: 3-1

Best Bet: Olimpia win is likely to be short but Over 2.5 goals could be better way to go with so many of Olimpia’s recent games going over.

Olimpia XI (probable): Martín Silva; Salustiano Candia, Herminio Miranda, Yair Ibarguen; Aquilino Giménez, Jorge Báez, Richard Ortiz, Eduardo Aranda, Sebastián Ariosa; Juan Manuel Salgueiro, Fredy Bareiro

There is a live market of this game available on Betfair

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Non-Televised games…

Cerro de Franco vs Rubio Ñu
Estadio Presidente Franco
05/05/2013; 15:00 (20:00 BST)
Prediction: 1-1

Deportivo Capiatá vs General Díaz
Estadio Capiatá
05/05/2013; 15:30 (20:30 BST)
Prediction: 0-1

For a list of my ‘Best Bets’ for all Week 12′s games, visit Free Bets Sport for my preview

By Ralph Hannah