Gimnasia vs Estudiantes
Gimnasia LP wasted the chance of climbing into the playoff spots last weekend, when they ended up losing 2-1 away at defending champions Rosario Central despite playing a worthy game. El Lobo continue performing an irregular campaign, having won three and lost three to make it nine points in six rounds. Gimnasia beat Huracan 3-1 in their last home match, which broke a three-game losing streak at Estadio Juan Carmelo Zerillo. Lucas Castro is still recovering from a muscle injury and will miss Sunday’s derby.
Estudiantes remain as one of the best teams in the league at the moment. On Monday, they fought hard to beat Newell’s Old Boys 2-0 at home with Mauro Mendez netting a brace in the last ten minutes of the game. As a result, El Pincha made it 11 league matches unbeaten (seven victories and four draws) and also climbed into second spot in the Copa Liga Profesional group B on 14 points, just two behind leaders Godoy Cruz. Estudiantes haven’t lost any of their last four on away turf, winning two and drawing two. Captain Enzo Perez will return on Sunday after succumbing to a mild knee problem shortly before the last game.
I expect the big La Plata derby to be an open game with at least a couple of goals. Gimnasia has scored in all 7 games they’ve played so far this year and conceded in 5 of them, including 7 in the last 4. Estudiantes should be able to hurt them as they’ve been solid in attack as well, so this should be a very intense game where I wouldn’t be surprised to see both teams scoring.