Alianza Lima will host Fluminense at the Estadio Alejandro Villanueva on Thursday in the opening round of the 2024 Copa Libertadores group stage campaign.
The home side have endured a slow start to their league campaign and will hope they can find better luck on the continental stage this week. They returned to winning ways last weekend, beating Los Chankas 3-0 on home turf, with team captain Carlos Zambrano scoring a first-half brace before Cecilio Waterman joined the Peru international on the scoresheet in the second half.
Alianza Lima opened their group stage campaign last season with a goalless draw against Athletico and will be targeting a winning start this time around.
Fluminense have also had a poor run of results in their domestic assignments of late and will be looking to return to top form when it matters the most. They were knocked out in the semifinal of the Carioca Serie A last time out after suffering a 3-0 aggregate defeat to rivals Flamengo.
Following Thursday's game, the visitors will return to continental action next week facing Colo-Colo in their second group game before kicking off their league campaign against Red Bull Bragantino next weekend.
Alianza Lima vs Fluminense Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Thursday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Alianza and Fluminense.
- The home side have lost their last three meetings against Brazilian opposition and are without a win in their last 10.
- The visitors' last meeting against Peruvian opposition came back in June last year when they hosted Sporting Cristal in a Copa Libertadores group-stage clash which ended 1-1.
- Fluminense have failed to score any goals in four of their last six games across all competitions.
- Los Blanquiazules have managed just one clean sheet in their last seven competitive outings.
Alianza Lima vs Fluminense Prediction
Alianza's latest result ended a three-game losing streak and they will be looking to kick on from that this week. They have, however, had mixed results on home turf of late and could struggle here.
Fluminense are on a three-game winless streak and have won just one of their last six games across all competitions. They are, however, the stronger side ahead of the midweek clash and should come out on top on Thursday.
Prediction: Alianza Lima 0-3 Fluminense
Alianza Lima vs Fluminense Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Fluminense to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Over 2.5 goals (Five of the hosts' last seven matches have produced more than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of the visitors' last nine matchups)