Arsenal Sarandi return to Estadio Julio Humberto Grondona in search of their first home victory in the Argentine Primera Division this season when they host Tigre on Saturday.
El Arse have picked up four points from their previous three domestic affairs, drawing Argentinos Juniors 1-1 last Friday, while Tigre have dropped consecutive matches for the first time this season, falling 2-0 to Central Cordova in their previous outing.
Match preview
A season after narrowly escaping relegation, Arsenal have put themselves in a similar position in the opening phase of this season's Primera competition, currently a point above Colon and descent into the second tier.
At this stage of the campaign, Carlos Ruiz has struggled to get his side to play a sound defensive game, conceding the second-most goals (10) domestically this season.
Arsenal have had difficulty maintaining advantages thus far, dropping four points when scoring first, including last week when they conceded a penalty deep into stoppage time as they failed to win for a second straight match.
Meanwhile, four of their five points domestically have come after conceding the opening goal, including a 2-1 upset victory at River Plate last month and a 1-1 draw versus Estudiantes, their only point at home so far in this competition.
They come into this contest unbeaten in their last six meetings versus Tigre in all competitions, beating them 4-1 in league play a season ago.
Following a solid start to the campaign, going unbeaten in their first three Primera encounters, El Matador have cooled off a little this month, dropping back-to-back games.
Diego Martinez saw his Tigre side earn at least a point in two of their opening three road fixtures before firing just one effort on target last Saturday, as they have now failed to score in successive encounters.
Tigre have yet to lose this season when leading or tied at the half while earning just a single point so far when conceding the opening goal.
For the moment, the club from Victoria in Greater Buenos Aires are near the middle of the pack, 18th in the aggregate table, but another slip-up could put them in early relegation danger, as they lead last-place Colon by a mere four points.
El Matador have not won an away match versus Arsenal since the 2013-14 campaign, while failing to score in two of their last three visits to Sarandi.
Team News
Emiliano Viveros is the only injury concern for Arsenal Sarandi, as he will not be ready until early April because of a meniscus strain.
Ruiz made several changes to his opening lineup last weekend at Argentinos Juniors, with Maximiliano Centurion, Lucas Souto, Tiago Banega, Santiago Toloza and Luis Leal all featuring in the starting 11.
Leal had the only goal last week for Los del Viaducto, as he is now tied for the team lead with Lautaro Guzman, having each netted twice.
Tigre will be missing Agustin Obando, who has a problem with his knee, Ijiel Protti will not return until early August from his Achilles tendon injury and Brian Leizza is out with a shoulder strain.
Mateo Retegui leads the league with six goals thus far, and he scored the previous two for his side when they defeated Belgrano 2-0 as Gonzalo Marinelli made three stops to collect a clean sheet.
Blas Armoa had the only goal for Tigre the last time they faced Arsenal Sarandi in this competition a season ago, but it was all they could muster in a 4-1 defeat.
Arsenal Sarandi possible starting lineup:
Medina; Souto, Centurion, Pombo, Sporle; Banega, Biafore, Muscia; Guzman, Leal, Brochero
Tigre possible starting lineup:
Marinelli; Aguilera, Prediger, Cabrera; Cardozo; Castro, Prieto, Menossi, Molinas; Colidio, Retegui
We say: Arsenal Sarandi 0-1 Tigre
Even though Arsenal have got the better of Tigre in numerous encounters lately, the visitors' style seems well suited to catch Sarandi on the counter, while Retegui is a difference maker in the attacking third, and we suspect his quality will be enough to help them end their current slide.
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