Defensa y Justicia can move past Belgrano in the Argentine Primera Division table on Tuesday when they welcome the club from Cordoba to Estadio Norberto "Tito" Tomaghello.
Heading into this match, Belgrano are ahead of Defensa by one point, having won their first encounter of June 2-0 over Velez Sarsfield, while Halcon had their game against River Plate suspended.
Match preview
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In the early portion of the domestic campaign, Defensa kept finding ways to win, capturing four of their first five league fixtures, but lately, it has been the opposite.
Julio Vaccari has seen his side score first in three successive league fixtures, but they failed to walk away victorious each time, most recently having to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Racing Club at the end of May.
While this team have missed opportunities to climb up the table and potentially challenge for a spot in the Copa Libertadores, they have done enough to earn points and maintain a solid position in the standings, currently sitting eighth with the third-fewest goals conceded (12).
Not since a 4-2 defeat versus Huracan in their opening league fixture have they come away empty-handed in a home outing this year, though Defensa have dropped four points from winning positions in their previous two domestic games played at Estadio Norberto "Tito" Tomaghello.
Tuesday will be the first time since 2019 that they host Belgrano in a top-flight encounter, and Defensa have never won a home fixture against them, coming closest in the 2018 Superliga campaign when they conceded a 93rd-minute strike in a 1-1 draw.
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Coming into matchday 20, the 2022 Primera Nacional champions of Argentina have shown they can hang with the big boys in the top flight, currently holding down seventh place, five points back of a spot in the Copa Libertadores.
Guillermo Farre's men have taken care of business at home, losing only once in Cordoba domestically all season, though they have stumbled a little as the visitors lately, suffering three successive defeats, without a goal in each of those instances.
They have, however, won four away matches in the league this year, but not since April versus Gimnasia (2-0), while they have maintained five clean sheets away from home in this season's competition.
Belgrano have conceded the opening goal in their previous three away matches in the Primera and failed to respond each time, having lost and been shut out of every league fixture this season in which they have gone behind 1-0.
On the other hand, they have done well to protect a lead throughout the campaign, unbeaten when scoring first while winning via shutout in four league games on the road this year.
Team News
Lautaro Escalante was forced out of the previous Defensa encounter having been sent off in an earlier match, while Vaccari made four changes to his side in that suspended match versus River Plate as Nicolas Tripichio, Facundo Gutierrez, Santiago Solari and Rodrigo Bogarin drew into the starting 11.
Gabriel Alanis had the only goal in their last league fixture on home soil which they drew with Racing Club, his first of the domestic campaign.
Solari, Gaston Togni and Nicolas Fernandez each netted in their 3-0 Copa Sudamericana victory over Penarol last week, assuring them passage into the knockout stage of that competition.
Belgrano added three new faces to their starting 11 versus Velez Sarsfield, with Alejandro Rebola, Guillermo Pereira and Ibrahim Hesar replacing Diego Novaretti, Bruno Zapelli and Gabriel Campagnucci.
Pereira put home his first of the campaign in that triumph over Sarsfield, with the winner coming courtesy of Pablo Vegetti, who has 11 domestically this year, one fewer than Michael Santos for the league lead.
Nahuel Losada had a clean sheet in their home victory last week, while four of his shutouts during the 2023 season have come on the road.
Defensa y Justicia possible starting lineup:
Unsain; Sant'Anna, Malatini, Cardona, Soto; Gutierrez, Lopez; Alanis, Barbona, Togni; Fernandez
Belgrano possible starting lineup:
Losada; Barinaga, Rebola, Meriano, Diarte; Longo; Pereira, Sanchez, Hesar, Jara, Vegetti
We say: Defensa y Justicia 1-1 Belgrano
When the tension begins to mount, Defensa seem to lose their composure, and their hesitancy and inability to hold a lead is the reason why we project a stalemate on Tuesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
