Sarmiento vs Defensa y Justicia

Sarmiento put up a good fight on their visit to league leaders Velez Sarsfield, but they ended up losing 1-0 on the road. That result represented their fifth defeat across the last nine league rounds (along with a single victory and three stalemates). El Verde remain on 24 points in the Liga Profesional, which keeps them bottom in the aggregate table (trailing Tigre by three points). On a positive note, Sarmiento lost only one of the last five at Estadio Eva Peron, winning two and drawing two in that spell. Playmaker Manuel Monaco continues to recover from a muscle problem.

Defensa y Justicia are going through a good moment of form to close up the season. Last Saturday, the team reversed the score even playing with ten men to beat Godoy Cruz 2-1 at home. El Halcon made it seven league matches unbeaten (four victories and three draws) to hold onto their Copa Sudamericana spot in the aggregate table after accumulating 30 points in the Liga Profesional. On away turf, Defensa managed seven points from the last nine available. Centre back Santiago Ramos Mingo returns from his ban on Friday.

Defensa are finding some momentum at the perfect time, when they are close to securing a place in next year’s Copa Sudamericana. Sarmiento won only one of the last nine games, have been playing poorly lately and should be in trouble here against a more motivated team.

BET: Defensa y Justicia -0.25 @ 1.97