Preview: Sarmiento vs. Velez Sarsfield
Sarmiento and Velez Sarsfield square off on Friday evening with just three points separating the teams in the Argentine Primera Division standings.
The home side, who sit in 18th position, currently hold a slender advantage over opponents who occupy 22nd place, six points clear of the bottom two.
Sarmiento went into the 2023 campaign with the objective of survival after their poor end to the 2022 edition, and they are currently well on track to achieve that target.
A total of 28 points have been accumulated from 24 matches, impressively scoring as many goals as they have conceded when three more defeats have been recorded than wins.
However, Israel Damonte’s side are on a run of just one win in eight matches, that triumph coming over Atletico Tucuman at the end of June.
Since then, though, Verde has succumbed to three successive defeats, only shipping four goals in the process but failing to score on each occasion.
In their defence, those setbacks have come against teams above them in the table, with this contest representing an opportunity to get back to winning ways.
Not so long ago, Velez Sarsfield had been on a 13-match winless streak, including ending June with three losses in a row.
Nevertheless, the appointment of Sebastian Mendez has acted as the catalyst for a much-needed resurgence, Sarsfield posting seven points from three games since his arrival.
One of their two triumphs came away at fourth-placed Lanus, before that result was backed up by a respectable 1-1 draw against Godoy Cruz, who sit in eighth, last time out.
Still sitting level on points with 26th spot, Sarsfield have much work to do going forward, yet there can be nothing but positives taken from the impact that Mendez has had at the Jose Amalfitani Stadium.
Sarmiento Argentine Primera Division form:
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Velez Sarsfield Argentine Primera Division form:
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We say: Sarmiento 1-1 Velez Sarsfield
Despite sitting well inside the bottom half of the table, these two teams have performed admirably in defence this campaign. Combined with a less-than-impressive record in the final third, it makes a low-scoring draw the most likely outcome.