Barcelona SC and Boca Juniors square off in the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday night looking to extend their winning streak in Group C to three matches.
While both sides have also kept successive clean sheets, they are aware that defeat in their third outing will open door to Santos and The Strongest.
Match preview
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After losing out at the semi-final stage in 2020, Boca Juniors are motivated to go one better this time around as they look to end their 14-year wait for another triumph in this competition.
Drawn in a group with Santos, the team which defeated them in the last four, Boca are under no illusions that they have to perform to their best if they want to progress through to the next stage.
They got revenge on Santos in their latest fixture with goals from Carlos Tevez and Sebastian Villa earning the Argentine giants a 2-0 victory.
Despite now holding a six-point advantage over their recent rivals, Miguel Angel Russo will stress to his side that complacency cannot become a factor during their remaining four fixtures.
Boca head into this contest having gone 338 minutes of football without conceding a goal, something which will be at risk against opponents who have been finding the back of the net with relative ease.
Having won just one of their previous five matches in the Ecuadorian top flight, Barcelona were not expected to make a significant impact in this group.
However, their brilliant 2-0 victory away at Santos has set Fabian Bustos's side up for a shot at progression ahead of last year's runners-up.
Barcelona followed that result by thrashing The Strongest by a 4-0 scoreline with Carlos Garces netting in his second outing in succession.
The Toreros have already achieved more points than they did at this stage last season, but Bustos knows that another victory will put them on the brink of the last 16.
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Team News
Barring any late fitness issues, Bustos may opt against making any alterations to the Barcelona team which cruised past The Strongest.
That would see Michael Carcelen and Gonzalo Mastriani drop down to the substitutes' bench after they featured on the domestic scene on Sunday.
Russo could take a similar approach with his Boca starting lineup with Cristian Pavon getting the nod over Agustin Obando.
Agustin Sandez will also hope to be recalled in place of Frank Fabra at left-back.
Barcelona SC possible starting lineup:
Burrai; Castillo, Leon, Riveros, Pineida; Molina, Pinatares; Hoyos, Diaz, Martinez; Garces
Boca Juniors possible starting lineup:
Rossi; Capaldo, Lopez, Izquierdoz, Sandez; Medina, Varela, Almendra; Pavon, Tevez, Villa
We say: Barcelona SC 1-2 Boca Juniors
Having scored more goals than their opponents, Barcelona will fancy their chances of overcoming their more illustrious foes. However, we are backing the Argentine outfit to prevail in a close match, one which may include a late winner.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Boca Juniors win with a probability of 50.35%. A win for Barcelona SC had a probability of 26.26% and a draw had a probability of 23.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Boca Juniors win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.98%) and 0-2 (7.93%). The likeliest Barcelona SC win was 2-1 (6.61%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.89%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 6.2% likelihood.
