Matchday two in the Argentine Primera Division campaign kicks off on Thursday with Sarmiento seeking their first points of the second phase when they head to Claudio Fabian Tapia Stadium to face Barracas Central.
A goal six minutes from the end lifted Baraquenos to a 1-0 victory over Godoy Cruz in their opening match of this round, while Verde suffered a 2-1 defeat to Instituto.
Match preview
Barracas have picked up where they left off at the end of the first phase of this competition, extending their unbeaten run domestically to five matches, four of which were wins.
That consistency has them in the hunt for a berth in the Copa Libertadores next season, currently fifth in the overall table but separated by just a single point from River Plate, who are first.
Rodolfo de Paoli's men have taken care of business at home recently, claiming points in their final five matches played in Barracas in the first phase of this competition while losing only once (2-0 versus River Plate).
Los Camioneros were undefeated in the opening phase of this competition when netting the opening goal, while claiming just two points in the four matches where they had conceded the opener.
To this point of the domestic campaign, they have never lost a match when finding the back of the net and have only been held off the scoresheet in three encounters this year.
They have never lost a competitive fixture against Sarmiento, conceding a goal or fewer in four of their five all-time meetings.
Speaking of picking up where you left off, that is precisely what Sarmiento did last Friday as frustrations continued for them on matchday one.
Verdolaga ended the opening round of this competition with four successive 1-0 defeats, and now eight of their 10 domestic losses this season have been by a single goal.
At the very least, Israel Damonte saw his side find the back of the net for the first time since their matchday 10 victory in the opening phase against Estudiantes (3-1).
At the moment, they find themselves in a dogfight to try and avoid relegation, currently with just nine points in the overall table, four above Tigre who are in the relegation zone, sitting dead last.
Sarmiento were rather wasteful throughout the opening phase of this competition, losing three matches when scoring first and dropping nine points as a result.
While they have never beaten Barracas Central before, Verde have points in two of their three visits to Claudio Fabian Tapia Stadium, coming away with a 1-1 draw the last time out.
Team News
Lucas Lopez is not expected to recover from his ACL injury until late May and will likely be unavailable to Barracas on Thursday.
Alexis Dominguez made a significant impact off the bench on matchday one, replacing Lucas Brochero after 65 minutes and scoring the winner on 84 minutes, while Sebastian Moyano made six stops to collect a clean sheet.
Lisandro Lopez could be a few weeks away from returning to the Sarmiento lineup after sustaining a muscle strain, Agustin Molina is dealing with an ACL injury and Sergio Quiroga sat out last Friday with a red card suspension.
An own goal by Nicolas Dubersarsky put Verdolaga on level terms before Argentine striker Santiago Rodriguez netted his second of the match, sending the home side to defeat.
Barracas Central possible starting lineup:
Moyano; Mater, Capraro, Goni, Insua; Herrera, Rosane; Duarte, Cantero, Zalazar; Dominguez
Sarmiento possible starting lineup:
Pourtau; Paredes, Guasone, Hernandez, Diaz; Godoy, Monaco, Calcaterra, Arismendi; Morales; Fontana
We say: Barracas Central 1-0 Sarmiento
Sarmiento have struggled to create chances, and they are playing a side in Barracas who have a lot of momentum and are quite comfortable in close games, which is why we project the home team will walk away with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
