CA Talleres de Cordoba vs Belgrano Predictions

It’s time for the Clásico Cordobés in the Superliga Argentina, with arch rivals Talleres and Belgrano doing battle at the Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes on Sunday evening. Another tight game between the two is expected with both managers under huge pressure and likely to lose their respective jobs in the event of a defeat.

The post-Frank Kudelka era for Talleres under Juan Vojvoda has not started well and La T look a shadow of the team they’ve been over the last couple of seasons. Kudelka ended El Matador’s miserable spell in the third tier, bringing them up into the top flight during a fantastic stint and last season’s 5th placed finish saw him leave with the club qualified for next year’s Copa Libertadores. However, as is the case with all Argentine outfits outside of the traditional big 5; success has a price to pay and Talleres certanly now look to be paying it.

Having lost key player after key player over the last year, and having failed to adequately replace them, Talleres’ squad now looks a significantly weaker one and poor results have Vojvoda under real pressure. 7 points from 7 games and just 2 wins from 8 competitive outings across league and cup illustrates Talleres’ problems and that’s something reflected in the mood surrounding the club, with dwindling crowds leading to president Andrés Fassi obtaining special permission to sell tickets to away fans; something normally banned in Argentine football, in the knowledge the hosts will not even be able to sell out their biggest game of the season.

Meanwhile, the mood isn’t any better in Celeste ranks, but rather than staying away, Belgrano fans instead vented their anger during last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at home to Huracan, with a capacity crowd calling for the head of manager Lucas Bernardi. After failing at numerous clubs, Bernardi was a far from popular choice the very minute he was appointed and his position will be simply unsustainable should his troops lose Sunday’s match.

Perilously close to the drop zone on the average points table, La B do not have time to waste and that’s what they appear to be doing under Bernardi thus far. On 7 points, Los Piratas have won just 1 of their opening 7 league matches and having failed to even so much as score in 5 of said matches, the team isn’t functioning well and look set for a long campaign.

Ultimately, this is a derby that tends to have all the blood and thunder you’d expect but little in the way of actual action. Fans of both sets of clubs are becoming increasingly annoyed by the regularity in which the two share the spoils, with bragging rights still yet to be claimed since Talleres were promoted, following draws in the last 3 league meetings.

Nonetheless, given what’s at stake on the pitch and in the dugout, backing a draw looks a great way to play and we’re more than happy to do so with maximum confidence. The fear of losing is highly likely to outweigh the bravery needed to win and we envisage these out of form rivals taking a point each via a goalless stalemate.