Defensa y Justicia – Gimnasia

Defensa y Justicia couldn’t show a good version in their debut in the Liga Profesional, when they succumbed to a deserved 3-1 away defeat to Huracan. That result means the team are yet to earn points in this competition after seeing their seven-match unbeaten streak of four victories and three draws in league action coming to an end. On a positive note, they are now on three consecutive victories at Estadio Norberto Tomaghello in domestic action. On Tuesday 14, Defensa drew 1-1 at home against Independiente Medellin from Colombia in a Copa Sudamericana group match. Coach Julio Vaccari resigned after the game. Pablo Quatrocchi will take over as interim boss on Saturday.

Gimnasia LP seem to have started a new life. Last Monday, the team showed an enjoyable performance to beat Velez Sarsfield 3-1 at home in coach Marcelo Mendez’s debut. El Lobo took their first three points in the Liga Profesional and also put an end to their two-match losing streak in league action, but they remain six points behind the last Copa Sudamericana spot in the aggregate table. On a sorry note, Gimnasia lost their last five matches as the visiting side.

Defensa suffered a painful midweek elimination in Copa Sudamericana after a terrible campaign where they won only 1 of 5 matches in a group that wasn’t that difficult on paper. Their coach resigned, they also lost in the 1st round last weekend, and they are looking far from reliable lately. Gimnasia has been poor when playing away but they looked good in the 1st round so I’m going to trust them here to avoid a defeat.

BET: Gimnasia +0.5 @ 1.79