Arsenal Sarandi vs Defensa y Justicia

Estadio Julio Humberto Grondona is the venue as rock-bottom Arsenal Sarandi seek a way out of the Liga Professional drop zone against in-form Defensa y Justicia.

After a 1-0 defeat away to Velez Sarsfield at the weekend condemned Arsenal Sarandi to a third consecutive league loss ‘to nil,’ head coach Federico Vilar starts to feel the heat. Nailed to the bottom of the standings, the hosts languish two points below safety, which is unfathomable, considering that woeful losing ratio of 68% (W5, D2, L15). However, four of Arsenal’s five top-flight victories this season have come at home, with three arriving in their last five home outings (L2), all of which yielded a single-goal margin. Defensa’s upcoming visit to the Estadio Julio Humberto Grondona promises another closely-contested encounter, with their last four competitive H2Hs featuring under 2.5 goals and a full-time margin of under 1.5 (W1, D3).

In the meantime, Defensa y Justicia followed up a 3-1 demolition of Millonarios in the Copa Sudamericana with a narrow 1-0 home triumph over Tigre at the weekend, gathering some steam ahead of their quest to end a five-game winless H2H run against Arsenal in all competitions (D3, L2). But given they failed to get on the scoresheet in four of those five meetings, it’s hard to back them for success here, especially after losing their last three league matches on hostile turf. Defensa’s recent form wobble on the road contrasts their impressive away showings from the early stage of the season, as they had only lost once on their opening seven top-flight travels beforehand (W4, D2)..