Union vs Lanus
Thanks to a strike from Kevin Zenon in the 61st minute, Union Santa Fe picked up a valuable point on their visit to Newell’s Old Boys last Monday, drawing 1-1 away. In the context of a poor campaign, El Tatengue are now on four league matches unbeaten (three victories and one stalemate), a streak that allowed them to leave the relegation spot in the aggregate table, accumulating 19 points, one above Velez Sarsfield, Banfield and Huracan. On a sorry note, Union accumulated only eight points in as many home matches this term, winning two, drawing two and losing four. First-choice goalkeeper Santiago Mele has been called for Uruguay’s national squad and won’t be available on Saturday. Sebastian Moyano will take his spot in the only expected change.
Lanus fans will have felt heartbroken following the 1-1 away draw at Boca Juniors as the team couldn’t hold onto their lead and conceded the equaliser with just one minute to go. However, El Granate extended their unbeaten streak to four league games (two wins and two draws) and made it 33 points to continue occupying one of the Copa Sudamericana places following that remarkable campaign. On the other hand, Lanus are winless in their last eight away matches, having drawn five and lost three since beating Estudiantes 2-0 in February. Centre back Cristian Lema collected his fifth yellow card at Boca Juniors and is suspended. Midfielder Raul Loaiza succumbed to a muscle problem and will miss out.
Union has been looking definitely improved and more confident lately, so I’ll trust them here against this Lanus that has been poor when playing away and will miss 3 starters to injuries and a suspension.