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Real Esteli and Tigres UANL will square off in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup first round tie on Wednesday (February 5th). The game will be played at Estadio Independencia.
The home side are coming into the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Jalapa in the Nicaraguayan Liga Primera over the weekend. They went ahead through Bancy Hernandez' 56th-minute strike while Oscar Rosales equalized on the hour-mark. Alejandro Blanco scored the match-winner for Jalapa with six minutes left in regulation time.
Tigres, meanwhile, fell to a 1-0 defeat away to Toluca in the Liga MX. Former Sporting midfielder Paulinho stepped off the bench to score the match-winner in injury time.
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Los Auriazules will now shift their focus to the continental competition and booked their spot at this stage as Liga MX Apertura runners-up. Esteli qualified as Central American Cup runners-up.
The winner of this tie will face either Motagua or FC Cincinnati in the next round of the tournament.
Real Esteli vs Tigres Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The two sides were drawn in Group 6 of the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Tigres claimed a 4-0 home win and played out 1-1 draw in Nicaraguay.
- Esteli have scored at least two goals in five of their last six games.
- Five of Tigres' last six games have been level at the break.
- Esteli's last 12 games across competitions have produced over 1.5 goals.
- Tigres' five games this season have produced an average of 10.6 corner kicks.
- Tigres' loss over the weekend ended their four-game unbeaten start to the season (three wins).
Real Esteli vs Tigres Prediction
Real Esteli will be facing off against former north American champions and are understandably the underdogs in the tie. Getting a positive result in the first leg could be crucial to their hopes for advancing to the next round and Ramon Olivas would charge his players to give their all in front of their fans.
Tigres won this tournament in 2020, having lost their prior three final appearances. The Mexicans made a fine start to the new season before their loss at the weekend.
We are backing the visitors to claim a narrow win with goals at both ends.
Prediction: Real Esteli 1-2 Tigres
Real Esteli vs Tigres Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Tigres to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals
Tip 4 - Over 8.5 corner kicks
