Sarmiento and Velez Sarsfield square off on Friday evening with just three points separating the teams in the Argentine Primera Division standings.
The home side, who sit in 18th position, currently hold a slender advantage over opponents who occupy 22nd place, six points clear of the bottom two.
Match preview
Sarmiento went into the 2023 campaign with the objective of survival after their poor end to the 2022 edition, and they are currently well on track to achieve that target.
A total of 28 points have been accumulated from 24 matches, impressively scoring as many goals as they have conceded when three more defeats have been recorded than wins.
However, Israel Damonte's side are on a run of just one win in eight matches, with that triumph coming over Atletico Tucuman at the end of June.
Since then, though, Verde has succumbed to three successive defeats, only shipping four goals in the process but failing to score on each occasion.
In their defence, those setbacks have come against teams above them in the table, with this contest representing an opportunity to get back to winning ways.
Not so long ago, Velez Sarsfield had been on a 13-match winless streak, including ending June with three losses in a row.
Nevertheless, the appointment of Sebastian Mendez has acted as the catalyst for a much-needed resurgence, Sarsfield posting seven points from three games since his arrival.
One of their two triumphs came away at fourth-placed Lanus, before that result was backed up by a respectable 1-1 draw against Godoy Cruz, who sit in eighth, last time out.
Still sitting level on points with 26th spot, Sarsfield have much work to do going forward, yet there can be nothing but positives taken from the impact that Mendez has had at the Jose Amalfitani Stadium.
Team News
Despite the narrow defeat last time out, Damonte is unlikely to overly tinker with his Sarmiento starting lineup for this fixture.
Fernando Martinez was drafted into midfield last time out and is an option, but Javier Toledo may return to the fold to take his spot in attack.
Having been introduced as a half-time substitute versus Platense, Sergio Quiroga could earn a recall to the team.
With Sarsfield having been leading last time out before substitutions were made, Mendez will likely name the same side, barring any injury issues.
However, Abiel Osorio's place in attack is at risk with the forward having scored just two league goals this season, the second of which came back in March.
Sarmiento possible starting lineup:
Devecchi; Sbuttoni, Hernandez, Insaurralde; Bettini, Rosso, Mendez, Quiroga, Diaz; Melano, Toledo
Velez Sarsfield possible starting lineup:
Burian; Guidara, Fernandez, Gianetti, Gomez, Ortega; Prestianni, Mendez, Florentin; Osorio, Bou
We say: Sarmiento 1-1 Velez Sarsfield
Despite sitting well inside the bottom half of the table, these two teams have performed admirably in defence this campaign. Combined with a less-than-impressive record in the final third, it makes a low-scoring draw the most likely outcome.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
