One of five unbeaten teams remaining in the second phase of the Argentine Primera Division, Gimnasia, return to domestic action on Friday when they travel to Estadio Gigante de Arroyito to face Rosario Central.
Rosario are unbeaten at home in the second round but have dropped their two road fixtures, while El Lobo defeated Racing Club 3-1 and hold a record of two wins and a pair of draws in this phase.
Match preview
Canalla begin life under new manager Carlos Tevez, an iconic Argentine footballer who will be tasked with bringing the former four-time Primera Division winners back to respectability, currently in 22nd out of 28 teams.
It will be the first taste of coaching for the former Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus star, who also won several domestic titles in his native Argentina.
Rosario could use some of his goalscoring secrets, as they tallied the second-fewest goals in group B in the opening phase of this domestic competition (16).
So far this round they have not found that consistent killer instinct in the final third, going goalless in three of their four encounters.
What they have lacked in terms of attacking prowess, they have made up for on the back end at home, posting three clean sheets in their previous four league games played at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito.
Domestically, Academia possesses a favourable record against the club from La Plata, winning three of their four league fixtures against them at home, conceding a total of two goals over that stretch.
Gimnasia come into this encounter on a high, without a defeat in nine consecutive matches in all competitions, sitting third in the second-round table, two points behind Newell's Old Boys.
Their defensive shape, which struggled to contain other teams while on the road, have looked a lot more compact and stingier lately, conceding a goal or fewer in five consecutive domestic contests away from home.
That is a massive improvement from how they started this domestic campaign, allowing 11 strikes in their first four league fixtures between February and March.
Manager Nestor Gorosito knew how to find the back of the net during his playing career, as he was the top goalscorer in Argentina back in 1988-89, and his players should be full of confidence, scoring the second-most goals (seven) so far in the second phase of this competition.
When scoring first, they are a tough team to contend with, failing to lose a league fixture all season in that scenario and without a defeat domestically in 2022-23 when holding a second-half advantage.
Gimnasia have a variety of players who you will have to watch out for, as five individuals have at least one tally in this round.
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Team News
Goalkeeper Gaspar Servio has the only goal for Rosario in the second phase of this competition as his spot-kick in the 84th minute gave his side a 1-0 win over Godoy Cruz in their previous home fixture, while he only had to make one save to maintain a clean sheet.
That goal on June 16 ended a two-match goalless run for Canalla, with their previous tally coming from Lucas Gamba in a 1-1 draw in the opening round of the Copa Argentina.
Gamba, Luciano Ferreyra, Walter Montoya, Servio and Facundo Buonanotte all converted their penalty kicks in that encounter to win 5-3, sending them into the next phase of that competition.
The last time Rosario hosted Gimnasia in a league fixture was back in 2020 when Gamba set up former striker Sebastian Ribas for the only goal, and the Uruguayan striker now plays his club football with Central Cordoba.
Brahian Aleman had a brace for Los Triperos in their victory over Racing, with the other tally coming courtesy of Eric Ramirez.
Those are two of the three players with assists for them so far in the second stage, with Ramon Sosa picking up the other one, while goalkeeper Rodrigo Rey has only conceded two goals in his previous four road games in league play.
Leandro Contin is out until July with an ACL issue, while we saw two changes to their lineup on Monday as Lautaro Chavez and Franco Soldano replaced Johan Carbonero and Cristian Tarragona, with the latter suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
Rosario Central possible starting lineup:
Servio; Blanco, Komar, Almada, Martinez; Tanlongo, Vecchio, Yacob, Montoya; Veliz, Gamba
Gimnasia possible starting lineup:
Rey; Enrique, Morales, Piris, Melluso; Chavez, Cardozo, Aleman, Sosa; Ramirez, Soldano
We say: Rosario Central 1-0 Gimnasia
Rosario may not possess the ball for long stretches throughout a 90-minute encounter, but they have shown to be a solid defensive side at home, with clean sheets in three of their last four league games.
We expect them to shut down Gimnasia in the attacking third on Friday and get the favourable new coaches' bump.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
