Sarmiento vs Velez
Sarmiento are now going through a difficult moment in the league. Last Sunday, the team returned home empty-handed after a heartbreaking 1-0 away defeat to Platense in a hard-fought game. As a result, El Verde are now on three consecutive defeats in this competition without even scoring. In fact, Israel Damonte’s men won only one of their last eight Liga Profesional matches, drawing three and losing four, which drops them down to the 18th spot on 28 points, nine above the relegation line. On a positive note, Sarmiento won three and drew three of their last seven at home, along with a single defeat. Lisandro Lopez and Alejandro Donatti are available after recovering from their respective injuries.
Velez Sarsfield fans will have felt really frustrated after the team’s 1-1 home stalemate against Godoy Cruz as they conceded the equaliser just 16 minutes before the final whistle. However, El Fortin are clearly improving under recently-appointed coach Sebastian Mendez: they remain unbeaten in this spell, winning two and drawing one so far. Therefore, the side accumulated 25 points, leading Huracan (currently getting relegated) by six. Velez won 1-0 at Lanus in their last away game to break a seven-match winless streak of one draw and six losses on the road. Centre back Diego Godin returns after overcoming a muscle injury.
Sarmiento will finally have veteran striker Lisandro Lopez back from injury so even though they’ve been struggling to score lately this has to be great news for them. Also Velez has scored in their last 5 games, so I’ll go here with this short totals line.