Argentinos Juniors host Chilean side Universidad Catolica on Wednesday, with the home side currently boasting a 100% record in this season's Copa Libertadores.
The away side have only managed one win in their first three fixtures in Group F, having lost in the opening two rounds of the competition.
Match preview
© Reuters
Argentinos Juniors are on an excellent run of form and are unbeaten in their last 10 games in all competitions, with their most recent result being a 2-0 victory in the Liga Profesional Argentina.
Two quickfire goals within four minutes of each other from Fausto Vera and Emmanuel Herrera just before half time were enough to give the Juniors three points against second-placed Estudiantes.
That result saw Gabriel Milito's side move onto 19 points for the season and they currently sit seventh in their league, six points behind the leaders Colon.
In gameweek three of the Copa Libertadores, Argentinos Juniors secured another 2-0 victory against second-placed Atletico Nacional after a brace from striker Gabriel Avalos, who has now scored three of the six goals his side have scored in Group F.
Goalkeeper Lucas Chavez has not seen a goal against him in this year's tournament and with their visitors on Wednesday registering two blanks in three games, he will be confident of securing a fourth clean sheet.
Universidad Catolica have made a decent start to their Chilean Primera Division as they currently sit third after six games of the season, and should they finish in third come the end of the season, that would put them into the qualification rounds for next season's Copa Libertadores.
Last time out, Gus Poyet's side claimed a convincing 3-0 win in the league against Union La Calera, as an early opener from Valber Huerta and then a brace from Diego Valencia sealed the three points at the Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo.
Another three goals in the game before that one provided the Chilean side with their first win in this season's Copa Libertadores, as they condemned Nacional to their second defeat in the competition.
The first fixture between these two sides came in gameweek two of the Copa Libertadores when Argentinos Juniors came away with a 2-0 victory over Universidad Catolica, the goals coming from Cesar Florentin and Gabriel Hauche that day.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
Team News
Argentinos Juniors will be without long-term absentee Matias Caruzzo, who is suffering from a knee injury and has not featured for his side since November last year.
Other than Caruzzo's injury, there are no new team selection difficulties for Milito, who is expected to name Avalos to lead the line for the home side after his double in the last gameweek of the Copa Libertadores.
Universidad Catolica are likely to go with a similar side to the one that beat Nacional in round three of the group stage fixtures with Fernando Zampedri looking to build upon his goal in that game.
The other two goals for Catolica against Nacional came from substitutes that were brought on, so Valencia and Clemente Montes may have earned their place in Poyet's side.
Argentinos Juniors possible starting lineup:
Chavez; Quintana, Torren, Allister; Elias Gomez, Moyano, Jonathan Gomez, Sandoval; Florentin; Hauche, Avalos
Universidad Catolica possible starting lineup:
Dituro; Cornejo, Huerta, Fuentes, Rebolledo; Leiva, Saavedra, Nunez; Puch, Zampedri, Valencia
We say: Argentinos Juniors 2-1 Universidad Catolica
Argentinos Juniors have proven in the first half of fixtures in the Copa Libertadores that they are strong favourites to win Group F and they will want to achieve that as soon as possible so that they can also concentrate on the league.
Universidad will take confidence from scoring three against Nacional which may help them find the back of the net on Wednesday but they may not be strong enough defensively to stop the in-form Avalos.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Argentinos Juniors win with a probability of 47.67%. A win for Universidad Catolica had a probability of 27.04% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for an Argentinos Juniors win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.34%) and 2-0 (8.45%). The likeliest Universidad Catolica win was 0-1 (7.74%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.02%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood.
