Argentinos Jrs vs Velez
Argentinos Juniors are back in the Copa Liga Profesional semi-finals (like they did in 2022) after beating Defensa y Justicia on penalties following a hard-fought 1-1 stalemate at Banfield. Thanks to Alan Rodriguez’s goal and two saves from goalkeeper Diego Rodriguez in the shootout, El Bicho remain alive in their fight to lift the fourth league title in history. On a sorry note, Argentinos are on four matches without a win in this competition, drawing three and losing one in regular time. On Tuesday 23, Argentinos won 1-0 over Brazilian side Corinthians SC in a Copa Sudamericana group game. Centre back Francisco Alvarez is set to return after succumbing to a fever shortly before the last match.
Velez Sarsfield showed a great display of effort to secure a massive victory last Saturday. Thanks to a brace from Braian Romero, El Fortin reversed the score to beat Godoy Cruz (the best team in the group stage) 2-1 at Estadio Unico de Villa Mercedes, in San Luis. Gustavo Quinteros’ made it three Copa Liga Profesional matches without defeat (two successes and one draw) to advance to the semi-finals and remain fighting for their first league title since 2012. Left back Elias Gomez will have to serve a one-match suspension after seeing a red card against Godoy Cruz.
First semifinal of the Copa de la Liga, the match will be played at neutral ground and it’s a one leg series so no home advantage for either team. I rate Argentinos higher, they are a more solid team and they even rested some starters in Copa Sudamericana midweek in the game they beat brazilian giants Corinthians. Velez is one of the surprises of this tournament and a good team as well but odds here should be lower in Argentinos in my opinion as they have better players in every line, so I’ll take them here which is value in my opinion.