Sarmiento vs Rosario Central
Lucas Melano’s strike in the 84th minute allowed Sarmiento to take a valuable point on their visit to Estudiantes last Saturday, when drawing 1-1. El Verde made it five points in as many matches in the Liga Profesional, an irregular campaign for them. If we count last season, Israel Damonte’s men claimed a single victory across the last 11 matches in league action, drawing six and losing four, which places them two points above the relegation zone in the point-average table.
Rosario Central are showing great improvements with regard to last season. Last Friday, the team made a good recovery from their previous slump and managed a hard-fought 1-0 home success over Godoy Cruz thanks to a penalty netted by Ignacio Malcorra in the first half. Miguel Angel Russo’s men made it ten points in the Liga Profesional, having lost only one of five along with three victories and one draw. On a sorry note, Central grabbed a single point from six on offer on the road this term. Defensive midfielder Francis Mac Allister succumbed to a knee injury and will miss out.
Sarmiento has less points than what they deserve, as they’ve been a bit unlucky in a few games lately. Rosario Central is better than them but they struggle playing away and won’t have an important player like Mac Allister, so I’m going with the hosts here.