Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Colombian Primera A match.
There will be little suspense in the final round of the play-off stage: Independiente Medellín have already booked their place in the Apertura final. América de Cali are all but certain to finish second, and realistically, the result holds no real significance for them. The key question is which side will show greater motivation.
América de Cali
The edge likely lies with América de Cali. They will be playing in front of their passionate home support, who will not accept a second straight defeat on their own turf. Their 1:3 loss to Deportes Tolima in the fourth round effectively ended any realistic hopes of reaching the final. Even a subsequent 1:0 victory over Atlético Junior failed to close the five-point gap behind Independiente Medellín.
Independiente Medellín
Independiente Medellín have been steady throughout the play-off stage, with their only dropped points coming in the opening match – precisely against América de Cali (1:1). Since then, they’ve either secured narrow clean-sheet wins (twice) or picked up victories despite conceding.
América de Cali vs Independiente Medellín Prediction
The total number of goals may be of little relevance here, despite the last three encounters all finishing with Total Under 2.5 goals. América de Cali are tipped to win, largely because their opponents are expected to rotate their squad to preserve energy.
