Gimnasia will look to continue their positive start to the second phase of the Argentine Primera Division campaign when they take on Banfield at Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo on Sunday night.
The hosts have avoided defeat in their first two matches of the second phase, while the visitors are yet to win a game, losing the first and drawing 1-1 at home to Huracan last week.
Match preview
Gimnasia had a forgettable first phase of the campaign, and after managing just 16 points in the first 14 games, the club opted to part ways with Leonardo Madelon after just 27 games in charge.
Marcelo Mendez was the man chosen to lead the fightback in the second phase and so far the Uruguayan has done an impressive job, still unbeaten after his first three games at the helm.
In his first two league games, the new boss saw his side overcome Velez Sarfield before playing out a 1-1 draw away to Defensa y Justicia, which his side could have won had it not been for a serious error by Juan de Dios Pintado which gifted Nicolas Fernandez an equaliser.
Last week, the side booked their place in the round of 16 of the Copa Argentina by beating Atletico Tucuman on the road, with Nicolas Colazo scoring a dramatic winner in stoppage time at the end of the game.
Mendez will now get his first crack at Banfield, who beat Gimnasia 2-1 in what turned out to be the final match of his predecessor's tenure in the middle of last month.
Banfield also experienced an underwhelming first phase in the league and ended just one point better off than Gimnasia with a record of four wins, five draws and five losses in their 14 games.
Julio Cesar Falcioni's side failed to win any of their first six games of the season and have begun the second round in a similar vein, losing to Union 1-0 before last week's stalemate.
Notably, El Taladro have been significantly better on the road than at home this season, with three of their four wins coming away from Estadio Florencio Sola, while that loss to Union ended a four-match unbeaten streak on their travels.
In addition, of the 14 goals they scored in first round, 11 of those were notched in away games, including seven in their last three games alone between March and April.
While Banfield are yet to find top gear in this round, they will feel that they are in with a chance of picking up their first win here, having avoided defeat in the last three encounters against this opponent and winning the last two.
Team News
The hosts are missing three players for this match due to injury, including Ivo Mammini, who sustained a cruciate ligament tear in March and is expected to miss a large part of the remainder of the campaign.
Gustavo Canto and Matias Miranda have not kicked a ball in the second phase due to an ankle and muscle injury, respectively, and both players are flagged as doubts for this match as well.
The visitors poor campaign has been attributable in part to their extensive absentee list, which was extended following Alejandro Maciel's red card against Huracan last weekend.
Banfield also have as many as nine players currently sidelined through injury, including the likes of Franco Quinteros, Ezequiel Bonifacio, Lucas Palavecino, Geronimo Rivera, Juan Quintana and Alexis Maldonado.
Gimnasia possible starting lineup:
Insfran; Pintado, Morales, Cabral, Colazo; Castro, Saravia, De Blasis; Dominguez, Castillo, Abaldo
Banfield possible starting lineup:
Barovero; Cardozo, Perez, Quiros, Insua; Nunez, Gonzalez, Soraire, Galvan, Rodriguez; Gimenez
We say: Gimnasia 2-1 Banfield
While Gimnasia had a very poor first round in the league competition, they look a completely different side under the guidance of Marcelo Mendez and are now three games unbeaten for the first time this season.
Banfield, meanwhile, are grappling with fitness issues, which have shown in their performances lately, and while they beat this opponent last month, we feel the hosts will get their revenge in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
