CD Junior de Barranquilla vs America de Cali Best odds and tips

Sunday’s Barranquilla derby between CD Junior de Barranquilla and America de Cali should be a classic affair with both clubs currently sitting in the top three of the Primera A 2025 standings. Junior are second with 30 points from 16 games, just one point ahead of America in third. Cesar Farias has done a good job since taking the reins on September 4, 2024, instilling pragmatic discipline and sharper transitions. They showed their grit with a 2-0 home win over Alianza FC in their last match, but were undone by a 1-0 defeat away to Deportivo Pereira last time out. America de Cali will be buoyed by their 2-0 home win over arch-rivals Deportivo Cali, but have not won in their last three away matches.

America shocked Junior 7 weeks ago with a 6-5 win away in Copa Sudamericana qualification and will be confident of making it a double on Sunday. Jorge da Silva has done a good job since taking over on May 8, 2024, but the team have been a little inconsistent of late. America’s preferred system is a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with an emphasis on high pressing and ball control, with technical midfielders in the 4-2-3-1 version. Da Silva’s men are aggressive, with Andres Sarmiento bringing flair and pace to the attack and often unlocking defences from the wide areas. Junior’s system is more balanced, usually a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2, with an emphasis on defensive structure and getting wide players into the game. Bryan Castrillon is Junior’s danger man with four goals in 12 league games, but Luis Gonzalez stands out for his creative spark and consistent chance creation on the right flank.

These two clubs have a long history and there is no love lost between the two cities, so there will be no quarter given on Sunday. Head-to-heads in Barranquilla are usually goal fests with Junior averaging 3.8 goals per game and America 3.7 in their eight meetings. We’re not expecting quite as many goals on Sunday because America have scored only 0.86 goals per game on their travels this league campaign and Junior have conceded less than a goal per home game in Primera A 2025. A low-scoring game looks likely here, but we’re going to take the underdog odds on Junior to win because of their superior home record and America’s poor away form. Rodrigo Holgado is on fire for America with seven goals in 13 league games and should provide the cutting edge for them on Sunday.