River vs Talleres
River Plate celebrated a massive victory in the Superclasico, winning 1-0 away thanks to a strike from Manuel Lanzini in the first half. As a result, El Millonario are back on track in the fight for the league title: they made it 24 points after eight Liga Profesional matches unbeaten (winning three and drawing five), trailing table toppers Velez Sarsfield by nine. In addition, Marcelo Gallardo’s men hold onto their Copa Libertadores’ spot in the aggregate table. River also are unbeaten in their last 16 home matches in domestic action, with nine victories and seven stalemates in that time. On Tuesday 24, River beat CSD Colo Colo from Chile 1-0 at home to reach the Copa Libertadores’ semi-finals.
Talleres keep their standards up to fight for the title. Last Sunday, the team secured three massive points through a deserved 2-0 home success over Racing Club, with Valentin Depietri and Cristian Tarragona scoring. La T made it three league matches unbeaten (two victories and one draw) to accumulate 27 points in the Liga Profesional (six behind leaders Velez Sarsfield) and also to hold onto one of the Copa Libertadores’ spots in the aggregate table. However, Talleres have been winless in their last five domestic matches on the road, drawing three and losing two in that time. Right back Matias Catalan succumbed to a knee injury and will miss out on Sunday while Franco Moyano is suspended after seeing a red card against Racing Club. On the other hand, Ulises Ortegoza returns from his ban.
River are still not playing great but results are coming their way: they advanced to the semifinals of Libertadores and won the superclasico last weekend. But 10 of their last 12 games had 2 goals or less because their football is still not what it used to be under coach Marcelo Gallardo, so I expect to see a tight game here with the visitors putting up a good fight.