Newell's Old Boys can maintain their 100% home record in the second phase of the Argentine Primera Division season when they host Instituto on Thursday at Estadio Marcelo Bielsa.
In their previous domestic affair, Newell's lost 2-0 at Banfield, while the Cordoba club came away with a 2-1 victory over Gimnasia.
Match preview
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Early into the second phase of this competition, we have seen two different Old Boys' teams show up at home and away.
At home, they have been solid defensively, winning both matches in this round without conceding, but they have been poor in the attacking third as the visitors, losing both of their away matches in this phase and failing to score both times.
Mauricio Larriera's men are currently 13th in the overall table and just a point back of a place in the Copa Sudamericana next season.
La Lepra have not suffered consecutive domestic defeats since April (two), and with a victory on Thursday, they will win three successive home games in this competition for the first time since February-March 2023.
Leaving it late has been the headline for this team since the tail end of the opening phase of the top-flight campaign, with their last five goals scored in this competition being in the 80th minute or later, while the two goals they conceded versus Banfield occurred within that same time frame.
The previous three home matches between themselves and Instituto were no contest, with Newell's Old Boys winning each of those encounters by three or more goals.
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Speaking of leaving it late, that is precisely what Instituto did in their previous domestic encounter against Gimnasia.
An 80th minute strike ended their two-match winless run in the Argentine Primera Division, giving them 24 points in the overall standings.
Instituto have points in eight of their nine domestic encounters this year when netting multiple times, putting them in 16th place.
Domestically, in 2024, Albirrojo have dropped eight points from three league fixtures when netting the opening goal, which is currently the difference between 16th and fifth in the overall table and a place at the Copa Sudamericana next year.
Diego Dabove's men began the Primera Division campaign by winning three of their first four away contests but have since lost four of their previous five matches as the visitors, including a 1-0 defeat versus Huracan the last time out.
Last year, they won just their second match in all competitions against Newell's Old Boys, 3-1 in February, though they have yet to find the back of the net or earn a point in any of their previous visits to Estadio Marcelo Bielsa.
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Team News
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Gustavo Velazquez is currently on international duty for Paraguay and is unlikely to be available to Newell's for this upcoming fixture.
Two newcomers were inserted into their starting 11 against Banfield, including Tomas Jacob, who replaced Velazquez in central defence, while Armando Mendez slotted in at right-back in place of Augusto Schott.
Instituto will likely miss Roberto Bochi, Matias Romero and Fernando Alarcon on Thursday because of knee injuries, while Ignacio Russo is eligible to return from suspension.
In their previous encounter, goals from Santiago Rodriguez and Gregorio Rodriguez helped them erase an early deficit against Gimnasia.
Newell's Old Boys possible starting lineup:
Hoyos; Schott, Jacob, Glavinovich, Martino; R. Fernandez; Cacciabue, Banega, Aguirre; Gonzalez, Ramirez
Instituto possible starting lineup:
Roffo; Cerato, Requena, Brizuela, Bay; Perez, Dubersarsky, Lodico, Acevedo; S. Rodriguez, S. Romero
We say: Newell's Old Boys 2-0 Instituto
Newell's seem to play with a lot more poise and control on their home field, and we believe that will propel them to a comfortable triumph this week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
