Two sides seeking their first points in the second phase of the Argentine Primera Division campaign will meet on Monday as Rosario Central welcome Tigre to Estadio Gigante de Arroyito.
In their opening match this round, Canalla lost 3-2 to Argentinos Juniors, while Tigre were beaten yet again, 1-0 at home by Estudiantes.
Match preview
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Fresh off an emphatic 4-1 victory over Caracas on matchday five of the Copa Libertadores group stage, Rosario can end a five-match winless run domestically on Monday.
That run dates back to the opening phase of this competition, when Miguel Angel Russo's men claimed just one point from their final two home contests.
Their defeat on matchday one of the second round versus Argentinos was just the second time domestically this season that they went on to lose a game after scoring first, while they have dropped points in three Primera fixtures this year when doing so.
Three of their four victories in the opening round of this competition occurred at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, where they conceded a goal or fewer in all but one of their domestic encounters.
Rosario have suffered just one defeat at home to this stage of the competition, with three of their four clean sheets occurring at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito.
It has been a while since they last defeated Tigre at home in the Primera Division, claiming a 1-0 victory in a March 2017 encounter.
The losses continue to pile up for Tigre, who suffered a seventh successive defeat domestically last week, while losing 12 league contests this year.
That has put them at the bottom of the aggregate table with just five points, four below Sarmiento in their quest to avoid relegation.
Scoring goals has been a massive problem for them throughout the campaign, with this side netting the fewest in the opening phase (seven) while failing to score in nine of their 14 league contests in the previous round.
Sebastien Dominguez's side collected just one point in seven league fixtures in the first phase, going without a goal in four of those encounters.
El Matador have only drawn first blood in two Primera contests this season, claiming just three points when doing so, though they have never been in front in an away match this season.
While it has been a miserable campaign for Azules del Norte, they have had plenty of success versus Rosario, unbeaten in five consecutive matches in all competitions against them, collecting three victories over that stretch.
Team News
Francis Mac Allister and Agustin Bravo are not expected to return to the Rosario lineup this weekend because of ACL issues, while Abel Hernandez has a sore thigh and could be out until July.
Agustin Modica had the opening strike in their defeat to Argentinos Juniors, while an own-goal from Leonardo Heredia drew them level for a few minutes before the home team retook the lead late in the opening half and never relinquished it.
Ijiel Protti missed the previous Tigre fixture with an Achilles tendon injury, Pablo Adorno is dealing with a sore groin and Gonzalo Flores has a broken collarbone, while all three are not expected to return until late May.
There were three new additions to their starting 11 in their opening second-round fixture who did not begin their final league game in phase one, with Kevin Lomonaco, Nahuel Genez and Gonzalo Maroni replacing Tomas Lecanda, Juan Sanchez Mino and Juan Cruz Esquivel.
Rosario Central possible starting lineup:
Broun; Gimenez, Komar, Quintana; Campaz, M. Martinez, Ortiz, Giaccone; Lovera, Modica, Malcorra
Tigre possible starting lineup:
Zenobio; Ortega, Nardelli, Lecanda, Genez; Garay, Cardozo; Galvan, Maroni, Esquivel; Londono
We say: Rosario Central 2-0 Tigre
Tigre have managed to keep their last few matches close, but they have been virtually non-existent in the attacking third and rarely look dangerous in possession.
While Rosario have been relatively inconsistent from one match to the next, they have been much more decisive in front of goal lately, and we believe they will find a way through the visitors' backline.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
