Racing Club vs River Plate Predictions

Sunday’s Superliga Argentina derby action sees local rivals Racing Club and River Plate doing battle at the Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón. Racing will be looking to make home advantage count in order to pick up their first win of the new season.

After romping to the Superliga title last season and transforming into an extremely powerful outfit under Eduardo Coudet, Racing’s start to the new campaign has been somewhat rocky and the side will be looking for improvement on Sunday. Indeed, La Academia kicked things off in disappointing fashion with a 0-0 draw at home to Union de Santa Fe, whilst last weekend they went 2-0 down at Velez Sarsfield, but did show excellent fighting spirit to come back and draw 2-2.

As such, Racing could really do with picking up their first win to really get their title defence rolling and confidence can be high in getting it here, with their home strength undeniable. Indeed, the hosts went unbeaten on home soil on their way to winning the title last season, winning 10 of their 13 matches in the process and picking up that kind of form once again is the objective in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, after failing to really challenge for the title last season amidst continental distraction, River are looking like facing the same issues this season; with Copa Libertadores action proving a distraction for league affairs. Marcelo Gallardo’s troops will face Cero Porteno in the quarter final of said competition in midweek and that has them making the short trip to Avellaneda with their minds somewhat elsewhere.

On paper, River’s strongest XI undoubtedly has the quality to push for the title but balancing the squad is a big challenge. Indeed, the side drew their first match of the season away at Argentinos Juniors due to Copa Libertadores distraction and sure enough; they haven’t won any of their last 3 games preceding a Libertadores match, which is a worry coming into this game..

Ultimately, this is a match Racing will feel they can win and they’ll be aiming to do exactly that. On home soil, they are typically dominant and play with an aggression and intensity visiting sides find hard to match; which could certainly be the case here as River try to conserve energy for their huge match in midweek.

All things considered, backing a home win looks like a good way to play as far as the betting goes and is exactly where our money is going. Racing have the benefit of only having league football to manage and River’s distracted state puts them at a big disadvantage on Sunday; something the hosts look more than capable of exploiting, with a 1-0 margin of Racing victory on the cards.