Huracan can end a nine-match winless run in all competitions when they host Newell's Old Boys on matchday 21 of the Argentina Primera Division campaign this Friday at Estadio Tomas Adolfo Duco.
For the moment, Globo find themselves third from the bottom following a 1-0 loss at Gimnasia last Tuesday, while La Lepra have points in three straight domestic encounters, as they are currently 12th in the opening phase following a 1-1 draw at home to Union.
Match preview
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The current struggles at Huracan over the past couple of months have boiled down to a lack of quality in the attacking third.
Since Sebastian Battaglia took over in May, this team have been nearly invisible when entering that area of the field, without a goal domestically in five matches under the ex-manager at Boca Juniors.
They have scored the third-fewest goals in the league thus far (15), though Huracan have not suffered a domestic defeat at home to Newell's since 2017 (1-0), winning the last two league fixtures against them in Buenos Aires by a 1-0 score.
Recently, this team have fallen apart late in matches with the pressure mounting, conceding a goal beyond the 80th minute in defeats to Danubio (1-0) at the Copa Sudamericana and domestically versus Gimnasia last Tuesday (1-0).
Three of their four victories this season have occurred on home soil, though only one of those triumphs in Buenos Aires came against a side currently above them in the table, defeating Barracas Central 2-0 back in February.
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Unbeaten in five successive matches in all competitions, the club from Rosario are in relatively good form right now.
Gabriel Heinze has his side just a point back of a Copa Sudamericana spot next season with seven victories in the opening phase of this competition, equalling their wins total in the first round of the 2022 Primera campaign.
Newell's have not shown much quality in the final third, notching the fifth-fewest goals in the league thus far (17), but they have got by with resolute defending, conceding the fourth-fewest goals domestically (16).
La Lepra have only claimed victory in one domestic road contest this year, though they picked up just their second clean sheet away from home earlier this month, drawing 0-0 at Sarmiento.
They are unbeaten domestically this year when scoring the opening goal but have only collected one point in the Primera this season when conceding first.
Team News
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Quemeros were missing Fernando Tobio versus Gimnasia because of a thigh injury, while only five players that began their June 3 league fixture versus Central Cordoba were in the starting 11 last Tuesday, with Lucas Chaves, Gaston Sauro, Juan Carlos Gauto, Santiago Hezze and Matias Coccaro all keeping their place in the opening lineup.
Hezze and Jonas Acevedo were the last Huracan players to find the back of the net in a competitive fixture when they drew Emelec 2-2 at the end of May in Copa Sudamericana action.
Their last goal scored in the league came at the end of April courtesy of Hezze and Coccaro in a 2-1 victory over Arsenal Sarandi, as they have both netted twice domestically this season, one fewer than Gabriel Gudino and two behind Nicolas Cordero for the team lead.
Fabian Angel and Pablo Perez will not be available for Newell's until the end of June, as they are each dealing with knee injuries.
Jorge Recalde had the opening goal in their previous domestic encounter as Kevin Zenon equalised in the second half for Union, ending the two-and-a-half-game shutout streak from goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos.
In their previous road fixture, goals from Juan Sebastian Sforza and Marcos Portillo propelled them to a 2-1 victory over Santos in their Copa Sudamericana group stage clash earlier this month.
Huracan possible starting lineup:
Chaves; Gudino, Torrent, Sauro, Carrizo, Ibanez; Hezze, Godoy, Gauto; Coccaro, Garcia
Newell's Old Boys possible starting lineup:
Hoyos; Mosquera, Velazquez, Ortiz, Pitton; Gomez, Sforza, Portillo; Reasco, Recalde, Sordo
We say: Huracan 0-0 Newell's Old Boys
Both sides focus on defence first and are rather indecisive in the attacking third, which leads us to believe we will see a stalemate between the two later this week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
