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Athletico Paranaense will host Racing Club at Estadio Presidente Peron on Thursday in the first leg of their 2024 Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal clash. The home side have hit a rough patch in their domestic assignments of late and will hope they can find better luck on the continental stage come Thursday.
They locked horns with Belgrano last time out in the Copa Sudamericana, picking up a 2-1 comeback win in their first-leg clash on home turf featuring goals from Erick and Christian. They then headed to Colombia to finish the job, picking up a hard-fought and highly clinical 2-0 win via second-half strikes from Gonzalo Mastriani and Lucas Di Yorio.
Racing Club faced Huachipato in the last 16 of the continental showpiece last month, picking up a 2-0 win in the first leg. They then built on their first-leg result with a 6-1 demolition of their Chilean counterparts in the return leg on home turf featuring goals from five different players including Johan Carbonero who netted a first-half brace.
Athletico Paranaense vs Racing Club Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Thursday's game will mark just the second meeting between Athletico and Racing.
- The two teams faced off for the first time in a pre-season friendly back in January 2020 which ended 2-2 before La Academia went on to win on penalties.
- The hosts are without a clean sheet in their last five games across all competitions.
- Racing are the second-highest-scoring side in the Copa Sudamericana so far, with their goal tally of 22 bettered only by their midweek opponents (24).
- Three of La Academia's four league defeats so far this season have come on the road.
Athletico Paranaense vs Racing Club Prediction
Athletico are on a run of back-to-back unbeaten outings, although they have won just one of their last five matches. They have won just one of their last four home games and could struggle here.
Racing's latest result ended a run of back-to-back winless outings and they will be looking to kick on from that this week. They have, however, had mixed results on the road of late and could see defeat here.
Prediction: Athletico Paranaense 1-0 Racing Club
Athletico Paranaense vs Racing Club Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Athletico Paranaense to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Six of the visitors' last eight matches have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just two of the visitors' last eight matchups)
