A pair of sides separated by a single point in the Argentine Primera Division will square off on Sunday at Estadio Presidente Peron as Instituto take on Tigre.
El Glorioso Cordobes are unbeaten in their previous two league fixtures, drawing 0-0 at Argentinos Juniors earlier this week, moving just ahead of El Matador, who were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Banfield.
Match preview
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Coming down the home stretch of this competition's opening phase, Instituto are fighting hard to remain above the relegation line, dropping just one of their previous five domestic outings.
With four encounters remaining in the opening phase of this competition, La Gloria are second from the bottom in the aggregate table, averaging 1.13 points from the 2021 league season until this one, while Arsenal Sarandi are the only top-flight team below them, with an average of 0.951 over that same time frame.
Since appointing Diego Dabove as the new manager last month, Instituto have conceded a goal or fewer in three of his four matches at the helm, though they drew first blood in three of those encounters and only emerged victorious once.
The club based in Cordoba are unbeaten in their last five home matches in all competitions, conceding only once in their previous four domestic encounters combined at Estadio Presidente Peron.
Sunday will be the first time they face Tigre in the Argentine top flight, with their only two previous meetings against them occurring in the 2019-20 B Nacional championship, with Albirrojo winning 3-0 both times.
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Since dropping their final Copa Sudamericana group fixture versus Sao Paulo at the end of June (2-0), Tigre seem to have hit a wall, with just a single goal in their last two domestic affairs.
It is not for lack of trying as they have registered 16 shots on target in those two encounters, though they have conceded in six successive Primera matches.
Juan Sara replaced Diego Martinez as coach last month, and since arriving, his team have struggled to maintain a high level of consistency over 90 minutes, without a goal conceded in the opening half since early June (when they lost 3-1 versus Talles Cordoba), while allowing six in the final 45 minutes of his four matches on the sidelines.
Tigre have lost their last five road fixtures in all competitions and are without a goal in four of those encounters, while they have not won an away game in the Argentine Primera Division since defeating Belgrano 2-0 in late February.
Although they have not won domestically since edging Velez Sarsfield 2-1 on matchday 21, Tigre have already bested their win total from the opening phase last season, earning six victories this year, one more than in 2022.
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Team News
Lucas Albertengo is dealing with a muscle injury, while we saw two new faces in the Instituto starting 11 on Thursday as Nicolas Linares and Brahian Cuello replaced Roberto Bochi and Santiago Rodriguez.
Manuel Roffo has posted consecutive clean sheets for them, stopping nine shots over that stretch, while their last goal came courtesy of Adrian Martinez in a 1-0 home victory over Belgrano.
Martinez leads them with eight goals in the opening phase of this competition, while Gabriel Graciani has the most assists for Instituto with three.
Alexis Castro and Lucas Menossi could be back for Tigre next week, having missed some time with a sprained knee and muscle injury respectively, while Abel Luciatti received a second caution deep into stoppage time against Banfield.
Luciatti had scored earlier in that encounter, while there were three changes made to the starting 11 for that match as Emanuel Aguilera, Agustin Cardozo and Ezequiel Forclaz replaced Victor Cabrera, Cristian Zabala and Agustin Obando.
Mateo Retegui has scored 10 times in the opening round of this competition, with the Italian currently in a three-way tie for the third-most goals domestically this year, alongside Lucas Beltran and Nicolas Fernandez.
Instituto possible starting lineup:
Roffo; Franco, Parnisari, Alarcon, Bay; Linares, Lodico; Graciani, Watson, Rodriguez; Martinez
Tigre possible starting lineup:
Marinelli; Blondel, Aguilera, Cabrera, Prieto; Cardozo, Prediger; Armoa, Zabala, Molinas; Retegui
We say: Instituto 1-0 Tigre
We have seen a lot more urgency from Instituto since Dabove took charge, and we believe that, along with their improved defensive shape, will propel them to a narrow victory this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
