Argentinos Juniors travel to face Banfield this Saturday, October 17th, aiming to hold onto third place in the Clausura. The match at the Estadio Florencio Sola, kicking off at 3pm local time, follows a 1-1 draw away to Platense last time out, a match in which Porcel opened the scoring in the 11th minute.
The side has 22 points from 12 games, with six wins, four draws and two losses. That form puts them in a strong third position. Their recent run shows three consecutive draws. Their last five results read zero wins, three draws and two defeats (DLLDD). This run includes the draws against Platense, Gimnasia La Plata and Barracas Central, as well as the 2-1 win over Tigre and the 1-0 loss to Rosario Central. In that victory over Tigre, the goals were scored by Kevin Gutiérrez in the 6th minute and Gastón Verón in the 42nd.
The opponent's form
Banfield, sitting 11th in the table, arrives on a run of four straight draws across all competitions. Their last starting XI featured Rodríguez in goal and Balboa in attack. El Taladro will look to break that pattern of stalemates on home turf.
Argentinos Juniors last lined up with Cortes; Paredes, Facundo Álvarez, Federico Vázquez and Sebastián Prieto in defence; Carrizo, Kevin Gutiérrez, Oroz and Porcel in midfield; with Molina and Gastón Verón up front. Verón and Gutiérrez were on the scoresheet in the 2-1 win over Tigre earlier this month.
The team needs to rediscover its cutting edge after scoring just once in each of its last three outings. Their next challenge on the fixtures page is this trip to Banfield, a ground where they have drawn three of their last six away matches. Gainblers said: "Argentinos Juniors llega a este compromiso con una ventaja estadística que merece atención." The squad targets three points to stay in the title chase.
