Costa Rica Primera Division Odds & Picks Clausura Round 16

• Six fixtures Tuesday & Wednesday as Costa Rica Clausura Resumes
• Second-placed Alajuelense have drawn three times in road trip games
• See all odds and best bets for Costa Rica Primera Liga Clausura below

Costa Rica’s Primera Liga will resume competition on Tuesday after a two-month break caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

It is the first league in the Americas to start up again, although Nicaragua continued to stage its championship without any suspension.

Fifteen rounds of the 22-round regular season have been played in the Clausura section of the season with the table currently led by the powerful Deportivo Saprissa club – with a four-point lead over Alajuelense.

The top four leading teams enter an end-of-season playoff competition which is now scheduled for late June and early July following the inactivity of the past two months.

Costa Rica Primera Liga Clausura Odds

*Odds taken on May 18

Games will be played behind closed doors and five substitutions will be allowed. Recent form may count for little with the players rusty after their enforced lay-off.

Pick 1: Cartagines vs Alajuelense

Second-placed Alajuelense travel to fifth-placed Cartagines at 10pm ET on Tuesday having compiled one of the better away records in the Clausura before the suspension of play.

The analysts have Alajuelense +140 favorites for a win, which offers good value.

Cartagines are priced at +203 with the draw a compelling offer, too, at +234.

Currently in second place behind bitter rivals Saprissa, Alajuelense have been beaten only twice in the current Clausura.

Alajuelense are from the north of the Central American nation and finished top of the Apertura regular season table last winter.

In common with many Latin American countries, each league season is split into two sections – the Apertura and then the Clausura.

Currently in second place behind bitter rivals Saprissa, Alajuelense have been beaten only twice in the current Clausura while winning eight times and drawing on five occasions.

🇨🇷 With the Costa Rican league resuming next week, I talked to the presidents of two of the country's biggest clubs to understand why they feel ready to return. The short answer? A strong governmental response to the pandemic: https://t.co/HfJzRZO1o5

— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) May 15, 2020

They thrashed bottom club LA U Universitarios 6-1 in their most recent game.

Both their defeats have came on the road but they have also won twice and drawn three times away from their own patch.

They were unbeaten in their last three games before the shutdown with two wins and a draw.

Cartagines – from the republic’s midlands – have failed to defeat Alajuelense in their last 10 meetings, with five wins and five draws for Tuesday’s visitors.

They have been beaten twice at home in this Clausura with four wins and one draw.

However, their recent home form has been good with three straight wins, although Alajuelense have won five of their last seven matches in total.

Pick: Draw (+234)

Pick 2: Grecia vs Perez Zeledon

Grecia are in ninth place but found a small sliver of form before the shut-down with one win and two draws in their most recent four matches.

They are priced at an intriguing +138 to win at home against Perez Zeledon on Wednesday at 5pm ET. Zeledon are eighth.

Grecia were 4-1 winners when the teams met at the home of Zeledon earlier in the Clausura on January 26.

A victory for Zeledon is rated at +195 with the draw at +248.

Zeledon failed to win in their three most recent games with two defeats and one draw.

Costa Rica's Liga FPD the first in the Americas to return after suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(Nicaragua never stopped) https://t.co/lpsQ6EC417

— Tom Marshall (@mexicoworldcup) May 12, 2020

Grecia were 4-1 winners when the teams met at the home of Zeledon earlier in the Clausura on January 26.

However, their record at home is unimpressive – the second-worst in the competition with only two wins, two draws and three defeats in this Clausura.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMNaPGrFRE8

In fact, they have won just once in the last nine Clausura matches although their price for a win offers some interest because the form book may count for little after a two-month break.

When it comes to form on the road, Zeledon have only the eighth-best statistics with two wins, one draw and four defeats.

Pick: Grecia (+138)

Pick 3: La U Universitarios vs Santos De Gaupiles

The bottom two sides will meet when 11th-placed Santos De Gaupiles travel to take on 12th-placed Universitarios at 5pm ET on Wednesday.

Given the poor form of both teams, a draw at + 250 looks a good value price.

Del club más grande de Centroamérica.
Deportivo Saprissa de Costa Rica pic.twitter.com/LO7avglfc4

— Álvaro AC (@lvaroAC1) May 13, 2020

A win for Universitarios is rated at +147 while a victory for Santos is +181.

Universitarios lost three consecutive games before the shutdown, although they have the eighth-best home record in the competition with three wins, two draws and two defeats.

Santos have failed to win away in the Clausura but have drawn three of their road trip games while losing four times.

In that three-game losing streak, the last two games for Universitarios were a 4-0 thrashing at home by Grecia followed by a 6-1 drubbing from Alajauelense.

Santos have failed to win away in the Clausura but have drawn three of their road trip games while losing four times.

They have won only three of their last 24 games across both sections of the 2019-20 Primera Liga.

There was a 3-0 win for Santos when they met Universitarios at home earlier in the Clausura on January 27.

Pick: Draw (+250)