Barracas Central – Argentinos Jrs
Barracas Central couldn’t cope with the challenge of playing a man down from the 14th minute and ended up losing 3-1 at home to Boca Juniors after taking the lead. It was their sixth consecutive league match without a win (four draws and two defeats), leaving them on 18 points in the Torneo Clausura, outside both the playoff zone and the Copa Sudamericana spots in the aggregate table. Moreover, Barracas have earned only two of the last 12 points available at home. Iván Tapia is suspended for Saturday after being sent off against Boca Juniors.
Argentinos Juniors keep flying high. In their last league match, they played excellent football to defeat Newell’s Old Boys 3-1 at home despite falling behind early. El Bicho returned to the playoff spots in Group A with 18 points and moved to within just one point of the Copa Libertadores qualification zone in the aggregate table, having lost only one of their last five league games (three wins and one draw). On the downside, they have collected just four of a possible 21 points away from home in this Torneo Clausura. Last week, Argentinos beat Belgrano 2-1 to advance to the Copa Argentina final.
Argentinos will use a mixed lineup here ahead of the Copa Argentina final they will play next Wednesday, so even though Barracas has been irregular lately I’ll trust them here to get at least a draw that would keep them alive in the playoffs race with only 3 games left.
BET: Barracas Central +0.25 @ 1.95