River Plate vs Instituto
River Plate continue walking towards another league title. After beating Banfield 4-1 away, the team completed their abandoned home match against Defensa y Justicia last Saturday, winning 1-0 through a strike from Nicolas De la Cruz. Therefore, El Millonario are now on four matches unbeaten in the Liga Profesional, having won three and drawn one. Martin Demichelis’ men accumulated 47 points, opening a healthy seven-point gap over second-placed Talleres. In addition, River hold an impressive seven-match winning streak at their own stadium in this competition. Captain Enzo Perez and Enzo Diaz overcame their respective knee problems and will feature on the bench. Coach Martin Demichelis will repeat the XI regarding last weekend.
Instituto new coach Diego Dabove had a promising debut after Lucas Bovaglio’s departure as his team showed improvements last time out, but they wasted several goalscoring chances and ended up drawing 1-1 at home against Racing Club. Following that result, La Gloria made it four league games without a win, with two draws and two defeats in that spell, a negative streak that keeps them into the relegation zone in the point-average table after accumulating 22 points in 20 matches this term. To make matters worse, Instituto are on five defeats in a row on their travels.
River is going to win the championship because with 7 rounds left they have a 7 points gap over 2nd placed Talleres, and I can’t see how this won’t be another easy home win for them.