Uruguayan outfit River Plate travel to Argentina on Thursday, when Racing Club will welcome the visitors to the Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Peron in the final group game of the Copa Sudamericana.
Racing Club currently sit top of Group B, but they could be overtaken by Melgar, who only sit three points behind top spot with a similar goal difference, while River Plate have nothing to play for, occupying fourth place in the group.
Match preview
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Fernando Gago's side are set to qualify into the knockout stages after Thursday's final group game, having picked up 12 points from a possible 15 so far, including an important victory in their last outing.
Last Thursday, second-placed Melgar visited the Provincia de Buenos Aires, and despite the home side being reduced to 10 players after Gaston Gomez was sent off, Racing Club managed to secure a 1-0 win, thanks to Tomas Chancalay's strike.
That has given the Argentinian outfit the advantage heading into this week's round of fixtures, and looking at the full picture, Racing Club will be looking to better their best finish in this competition, having never surpassed further than the quarter-final stages.
One point will be enough for the hosts to secure top spot in Group B, but facing the side who have only recorded one win in their five matches puts an expectation on Gago's side to end the group stages with another three points in front of their own fans.
Gustavo Diaz's side enter this match in poor form, having lost four of their last five matches across all competitions, failing to end that form last time out in the Primera Division Apertura, where they currently sit eighth in the league.
On Sunday, River Plate travelled to face league leaders Liverpool FC, and despite Gonzalo Castro giving the visitors late hope by halving the deficit, they could not find a late equaliser and went home with a 2-1 defeat.
River Plate last competed in the Copa Sudamericana during the 2019-20 season, but in this campaign, they have failed to progress as far as they did that time around, when they reached the last 16 stage.
A major reason as to why Diaz's side will not progress from Group B is that they have only netted four goals in their five matches, which is at least two goals fewer than the other teams in the group, suggesting River Plate have lacked firepower in the attacking third.
Thursday's hosts secured a slight 1-0 win in the first fixture between these two teams in this year's competition, with Leonel Miranda striking a 91st-minute winner in Montevideo.
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Team News
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Racing Club will continue to be without goalkeeper Gabriel Arias, attacker Gabriel Hauche and midfielder Mauricio Martinez due to injury, with Hauche expected to make the earliest return out of the trio, as he could return to action later this month.
Number one goalkeeper Gomez will serve his suspension during this match after receiving a straight red card last time out, meaning that Matias Tagliamonte will start between the posts for the hosts.
Gago will set his side up to operate in a 4-3-3 formation, which will be lead by Enzo Copetti down the centre, with Edwin Cardona and Chancalay either side of the number nine in the front three.
River Plate will opt for a more defensive approach, lining up with a back five including Maximiliano Pereira, Jose Aja, Horacio Salaberry, Santiago Brunelli and Gonzalo Napoli.
Jonathan Urretaviscaya could return to the starting 11 in this competition, leading the line alongside Pablo Lopez, potentially coming in to replace Nicolas Sosa up front.
Racing Club possible starting lineup:
Tagliamonte; Mena, Insua, Dominguez, Mura; Alcaraz, Moreno, Miranda; Cardona, Copetti, Chancalay
River Plate possible starting lineup:
Ichazo; Napoli, Brunelli, Salaberry, Aja, Pereira; Lavega, Montiel, Fonseca; Lopez, Urretaviscaya
We say: Racing Club 2-0 River Plate
As River Plate have nothing to play for as such in this match, the visitors are not expected to cause Racing Club many problems, and the hosts should sail to winning this group.
The hosts will have more confidence and that should significantly help them towards three points, getting on the scoresheet a couple of times against a side which in recent weeks has regularly conceded twice in each game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
