After a rare defeat at La Bombonera a week ago, Boca Juniors need a win at home versus Banfield on Friday to assure they remain in a top-three position in the Argentine Primera Division overall standings.
Boca conceded two penalty kicks to Union last Friday, losing 2-1, while El Taladro stretched their unbeaten run in the second phase to four straight games, coming back to draw 1-1 against Barracas Central.
Match preview
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Number 13 was not lucky for Boca Juniors, who saw their home unbeaten run stall at 12 consecutive matches last week, dropping their second game in this phase of the competition.
Manager Sebastian Battaglia criticised his team for not showing clear attacking intentions in the second half of that fixture, as they lacked composure and were overaggressive in their penalty area, which ultimately cost them points.
That defeat moved them three points behind Racing in the aggregate table in what was a physically demanding match against Union where we saw 33 total fouls committed between both sides, with an additional three red cards being shown.
Technically speaking, Boca may be the sharpest squad in Argentina, typically ending a match above the 70% mark in terms of possession.
Not only are they challenging to dispossess, but Azul y Oro gather a lot of confidence when finding the back of the net, scoring twice in less than 10 minutes on four separate occasions in the second round.
In their six previous domestic encounters against Banfield, Boca Juniors have not conceded a single goal, winning five of those contests, outscoring them 5-0 in two home games.
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Another solid second-half performance allowed Banfield to hold onto the final Copa Sudamericana position last Friday.
Claudio Vivas tends to operate with two strikers higher up the field, though one of them usually plays in behind and focuses on creativity, while trying to stop opposing teams in transition.
They have not shown much potency in their five matches this round, though they have usually done enough to earn points, losing only one of their previous eight matches played in this domestic competition.
You can expect this team to be well-drilled and positionally sound in their approach, conceding a goal or fewer in nine of their last 10 games in all competitions.
Even though they have struggled when facing Boca Juniors, El Taladro can take a lot of confidence from how they fared against them in 2021, with 54% of the possession, firing seven efforts on target while conceding five themselves.
Banfield are keen to stop you from gathering momentum on the counter, often committing a dozen or more fouls over 90 minutes, even if it means they go into the referee's book.
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Team News
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Last weekend, Boca Juniors forward Eduardo Salvio notched his first goal in the second phase from the penalty spot, while Agustin Rossi stopped two shots on Wednesday as they drew 0-0 versus Corinthians in the first leg of that Round of 16 tie in the Copa Libertadores.
Exequiel Zeballos is the joint top-goalscorer in the Primera Division, tallying three times in this phase, while Sebastian Villa is tied for most assists in Argentina with three, with his teammate Frank Fabra right on his heels, setting up two goals so far.
Carlos Izquierdoz and Carlos Zambrano will not be available because of red card suspensions, Diego Gonzalez remains out with a meniscus issue and Norberto Briasco has an ankle injury.
Ramiro Enrique notched the equaliser for Banfield last week after an own goal from Luciano Abecasis put them behind after 13 minutes.
Giuliano Galoppo leads them with two goals after five matches, and Matias Gonzalez is the only one with an assist so far in this round, while Maximiliano Cuadra could miss a few more weeks with a muscle injury.
We only saw one change to their starting 11 against Barracas Central from the opening lineup versus Tigre, as Matias Romero replaced Alejandro Cabrera in the midfield.
Boca Juniors possible starting lineup:
Rossi; Weigandt, Rojo, Avila, Fabra; Medina, Campuzano, Romero; Villa; Salvio, Briasco
Banfield possible starting lineup:
Bologna; Coronel, Lollo, Maciel, Abecasis; Gonzalez, Romero, Domingo, Urzi; Galoppo; Enrique
We say: Boca Juniors 1-0 Banfield
With everything to play for at the Copa Libertadores, next Tuesday, do not expect Battaglia to yield his strongest squad for this encounter.
That being said, even some of the Boca Juniors reserves are more than capable of getting the job done against a side which should not trouble them much in the attacking third, while there is still enough quality for Xeneizes to earn three points on Friday.
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