Racing vs Independiente
Racing Club are starting to regain ground in the league. Last week, despite fielding a completely rotated lineup, they defeated Huracán 2-0 away thanks to goals from Duván Vergara and Matías Zaracho. La Academia secured their second straight win in the Torneo Clausura, reaching 10 points in Group A, moving closer to the playoff spots and approaching the Copa Sudamericana positions in the aggregate table. Only three of those points have come at home, as Racing have won one and lost four on their own turf. On Tuesday the 23rd, they won 1-0 over Vélez Sarsfield in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals (2-0 on aggregate). All regulars are available for Sunday.
Independiente remains in a deep crisis. After the departure of coach Julio Vaccari, the team showed little improvement and had to settle for a 1-1 home draw against San Lorenzo under interim manager Carlos Matheu. El Rojo are still winless in the Torneo Clausura and sit bottom of Group B with four points from eight matches (with one game in hand), coming from four draws and four defeats. Away from home, they have picked up just two points out of a possible 12. New coach Gustavo Quinteros will make his debut this Sunday, without Sebastian Valdez and Gabriel Avalos, both affected by muscle injuries.
One of the biggest derbies and rivalries in the league meet again and both teams are in very different situations: Racing has just advanced to the semifinals of Copa Libertadores while Independiente are still winless and bottom of their group, so I have to go with the much in-form team.