Banfield vs Argentinos Juniors

Estadio Florencio Sol is the venue as relegation-battling Banfield and top-half Argentinos Juniors face each other in contrasting Liga Professional circumstances.

It promises to be a season-long fight against the drop for underperforming Banfield after a 3-1 away defeat at Belgrano last time out condemned them to a third consecutive Primera Divison loss. ‘El Taladro’ continue to flirt with the relegation spot, with only one point separating them from rock-bottom Arsenal Sarandi at the start of this round. But the impending home return may help Javier Sanguinetti’s side to get back on track, considering three of their four top-flight triumphs this season have come at the Estadio Florencio Sola. Worryingly, though, they’ve gone winless in three of their last four home league outings (D1, L2), netting under 1.5 goals in each game they didn’t win. Scoring has been a genuine issue for Banfield this term, as witnessed by a dreadful average of 0.54 goals per home match.

Visiting Argentinos Juniors ought to take the field in high spirits despite an action-packed 3-2 defeat at Independiente del Valle in midweek Copa Libertadores action, as they’ve reached the competition’s knockout stages regardless. But that loss did bring the visitors’ four-match winning streak to an end, marking their second defeat across their last three competitive travels (W1). Therefore, Gabriel Milito’s men cannot take anything for granted, even though they’re unbeaten on three consecutive top-flight visits to Banfield (W2, D1) since a 1-0 loss in 2015. Still, a lack of scoring prowess could derail Juniors’ hopes of extending that run, as they’ve netted a poor average of 0.45 goals per Primera Division travel this season.