Copa Libertadores Tips: Palmeiras and Flamengo to repeat 2021 final

Palmeiras can turn around result

Palmeiras v Athletico PR
Wednesday, 01:30

Palmeiras suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to their Brazilian rivals in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores semi-final, putting their title on the line. However, don't write the back-to-back Champions off just yet.

Out of their five home matches to date, Palmeiras have won four, only not winning when they drew with Atletico MG in the quarter-finals before progressing on penalties - a match in which they had ten men from the 30th minute.

They also scored 18 goals within those home games, too, which doesn't bode well for Athletico PR, who haven't exactly travelled with this year.

Palmeiras' opponents have won just one of their five away matches in this competition, a 97th minute winner against Estudiantes in the quarter finals. They lost two of their three group matches, and they also failed to find the net in any of those games.

I've continuously said it within my column, but Athletico PR have overachieved in this year's Copa Libertadores - and it's not been a strong competition by a long stretch. The safety of backing Palmeiras to qualify mixed with a bet in Flamengo's game creates the ideal bet across both semi finals...

Flamengo to fire themselves into final

Flamengo v Velez Sarsfield
Thursday, 01:30

Flamengo are all but through to their second consecutive final after hammering Argentinian side Velez Sarsfield 4-0 away from home.

Last year it was Gabriel Barbosa who finished as top goalscorer with 10 goals but this time round it's Pedro who leads the leaderboard with 11, after scoring a hat-trick in the first leg.

The Brazilians were ruthless and I'm sure both Palmeiras and Athletico PR noticed that a potential final would not be easy against Flamengo, the tournament favourites from the very beginning.

In front of a sell out crowd, I'm expecting very little changes in personnel for this one and Flamengo should be able to pull them apart, as they did in the first leg.

For the first time in this column, I'm putting together a double, but both Flamengo and Palmeiras have continuously shown they are the best teams in the competition and a repeat 2021 final would be a fantastic watch.

Back Palmeiras to qualify and Flamengo to win within 90 minutes with a two point stake @ 1.9010/11.