Universidad de Chile
- Universidad de Chile and Audax Italiano meet on Friday in an early season match after finishing 4th and 5th in 2025.
- La U finished 2025 with a bang, culminating in a 3-2 away win over Deportes Iquique, but stumbled in their most recent friendly under new coach Francisco ‘Paqui’ Meneghini, losing 3-0 to Universitario in Lima earlier this month.
- He will need to get the best out of Lucas Di Yorio - their leading scorer in 2025 - to break down the Audax defense because he won’t be happy if his team sits deep.
- La U can be dangerous in wide areas, and Rodrigo Contreras and Lucas Assadi can both provide width and creativity.
Audax Italiano
- Audax Italiano’s game plan is to be compact and counter, exploiting space behind advanced full-backs.
- He has made Audax Italiano more disciplined and dangerous on the counter attack already.
- Leonardo Valencia remains the best playmaker, recording double-digit goals and assists, as well as being the chief orchestrator of the team’s transitions and set pieces.
- Lautaro Palacios can be a direct threat from wide and Marco Collao is a specialist from set plays, while Cristobal Munoz’s Achilles injury doesn’t make them any weaker in terms of the first-choice line-up.
Head-to-Head
- Audax, meanwhile, ended three points behind them and also finished with some panache, culminating in a 3-1 victory over La U at the end of August 2025.
- The fixture has been closely contested over the past decade.
Key Players
- Leonardo Valencia remains the best playmaker, recording double-digit goals and assists, as well as being the chief orchestrator of the team’s transitions and set pieces.
- Lautaro Palacios can be a direct threat from wide and Marco Collao is a specialist from set plays, while Cristobal Munoz’s Achilles injury doesn’t make them any weaker in terms of the first-choice line-up.
- He will need to get the best out of Lucas Di Yorio - their leading scorer in 2025 - to break down the Audax defense because he won’t be happy if his team sits deep.
- Rodrigo Contreras and Lucas Assadi can both provide width and creativity.
Betting Insights
- The 1.57 odds on the home side look low in a fixture that has been closely contested over the past decade, while the 5.03 on Audax makes them a interesting long shot.
- Over 2.5 goals at 1.63 is a price we like, given that the game is usually a chess match between pressing and counter-attacking football.
Prediction
Audax won the previous meeting 3-1 in August 2025 and we see a 1-1 draw being a more likely result, although 2-1 to either side is possible given La U’s solid end to 2025 was followed by a disappointing preseason defeat.
