Banfield vs Independiente
Banfield showed a big effort last Sunday to secure a massive 2-1 away success over Independiente Rivadavia, reversing the score after conceding first. That victory means El Taladro succumbed to a single loss across their last eight Copa Liga Profesional matches, winning three and drawing four in that time to accumulate 14 points, opening a nine-point gap over the relegation spot in the aggregate table. On a sorry note, Banfield won only one at home this term, along with two stalemates and three defeats.
Independiente are going through a little slump in the Copa Liga Profesional. Last Sunday, the team had enough to secure a home point, drawing 1-1 against Atletico Tucuman thanks to a goal from Mauricio Isla in the 89th minute. El Rojo are without a win in their last four league matches, drawing three and losing one. As a result, they remain out of the playoff spots in group A, accumulating 19 points and trailing River Plate (in fourth) by two. Independiente lost their last away game (1-0 to Deportivo Riestra) after five league games unbeaten on the road (three victories and two stalemates). Captain Ivan Marcone succumbed to a fever and will miss out.
Despite a couple of really poor performances, Independiente are still 2 pts behind the playoffs zone with only 2 games left so they need to win this one whatever it takes or they could be mathematically out of chances. Banfield plays for nothing but they’ve improved lately losing only 1 of the last 8 and scoring in 6 of them so I’ll go for the OVER here because sooner or later the visitors could get desperate to go for the 3 points.