Fecha 7, Clausura 2011 - Preview and predictions

Preview and predictions for the seventh round of games in the Clausura 2011 tournament.

Preview

After last week's pathetic 3/9 effort on the predictions, which was coincidentally matched by our blindfolded monkey pulling balls marked W, D & L out of a bag we are looking for a big improvement this week, however going for a Boca Juniors win given their current run of form is perhaps a bit rash.

The weekend kicks off with a tie between the only unbeaten side and the only side without a win. Only the foolhardy or an insanely optimistic Quilmes fan would bet against a home win for Argentinos Juniors, however Argentinos haven't won a home game against Quilmes in the Primera División since 1991.

Friday's second game features two teams that have had unusual reversals in home form since the end of the Apertura. Estudiantes have lost two consecutive home league games after a run of ten consecutive home wins and All Boys have undone all of their hard work from the Apertura, slipping into the relegation zone after four games without a win, their only victory being their surprise away win at Vélez in Fecha 2.

The early kick-off on Saturday sees Gimnasia face their second consecutive relegation six-pointer. They will have a tough job getting a result at Húracan given their wretched away form and the fact that all eyes will be on the referee Gabriel Favale to make sure that he doesn't throw the game in favour of the La Plata side like Germán Delfino did in Fecha 6. Gimnasia can look to the fact that they have won two in their last three visits to Parque Patricios since Huracán returned to the Primera División in 2007.

Two sides that were on the wrong end of dodgy offside calls in Fecha 6 face each other in the second game. Racing Club will be hoping to bounce straight back from their defeat against Estudiantes with a win at Lanús however they have not won at "La Fortaleza" in over four years.

River Plate will need to win their game against 19th placed Newell's Old Boys to get their title ambitions back on track and stop their recent slide back towards the relegation places after three games without a win. "Los Millonarios" will be hoping for a high scoring win against by far the leagues leakiest defence but they will be missing Tanque Pavone after his injury against Arsenal last Saturday. Rogelio Funes Mori looks unlikely to recover from his injury so the striking duty could be handed to Leandro Caruso.

Surprise league leaders Olimpo host San Lorenzo in the late match, it is hard to assess whether San Lorenzo will be able to put up a decent title challenge given that their game last weekend was abandoned after only six minutes. It should be a high scoring game given that Olimpo are the leagues top scorers so far with 14 goals and a San Lorenzo win seems unlikely given that the visitors have not won in Bahía Blanca since 2003.

Tigre and Godoy Cruz kick off Sunday's games and it should be an entertaining encounter, as only Olimpo games have featured more goals (23) than games featuring Godoy Cruz (21). An away win looks like a likely outcome as "El Tomba" have one of the best away records in the division and Tigre have only managed to win one of their previous four home games.

Vélez and Arsenal will be looking to consolidate their positions in the Copa Sudamericana 2011 qualification positions. A win for Arsenal seems unlikely as they have never won a league game at "El Fortín".

Independiente will be hoping to bag only their second win in eighteen games against Argentine opposition when they face Banfield. An away win looks a distinct possibility as "El Taladro" have won their previous two away games in the Clausura and have won three out of their four previous away league games against Independiente.

Colón will be hoping to turn around their poor run of form when they host Boca Juniors on Sunday night.  The visitors are seriously struggling under new manager Julio Cesár Falcioni but they can take some inspiration from the fact that their only win of the Clausura came away from home when they beat Racing in round two. A draw seems unlikely as it has been 13 years and ten league games between these two at the "Cementerio de los elefantes" since the last draw, with Colón leading with six wins to Boca's four since a 2-2 draw back in 1998. I fancy Martín Palermo to end his goalscoring drought in this game to find his first goal of the Clausura and silence his critics.

Predictions

As the results come in I will fill in the actual scores and colour code the predicted scores, green for exact score, yellow for correct result and red for completely wrong. Each green score gets three points, each yellow score gets one point and red scores get nothing. If you fancy playing along fill out your predictions in the comments below to see if you can beat mine.

25-03-11 Prediction
Argentinos Juniors 0-0 Quilmes 2-0
Estudiantes 3-0 All Boys 1-0
26-03-11
Olimpo 0-1 San Lorenzo 2-2
Huracán 2-0 Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) 2-1
Lanús 4-1Racing Club 2-2
River Plate 2-1 Newell's Old Boys 3-0
27-03-11
Tigre 2-2 Godoy Cruz 2-3
Independiente 1-1 Banfield 1-1
Vélez Sársfield 3-0 Arsenal 2-0
Colón 0-1 Boca Juniors 0-1

Score: 10 Points, I would definately have won some money if I'd put bets on that lot.

1 comment:

  1. Argentinos AW Quilmes
    Estudiantes D All Boys
    Huracán AW Gimnasia
    Lanús AW Racing Club
    River Plate HW Newell's
    Olimpo HW San Lorenzo
    Vélez HW Arsenal
    Independiente HW Banfield
    Colón D Boca Juniors
    Tigre HW Godoy Cruz

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