Gimnasia de Mendoza – Deportivo Riestra
Gimnasia Mendoza put in a poor performance in a 0-2 away defeat to Defensa y Justicia. Darío Franco’s side showed their worst side and came away empty-handed. The result ended a four-match unbeaten run in the league, with three wins and one draw during that spell. El Lobo Pituco dropped to fourth in Group A of the Torneo Clausura with 16 points, which nevertheless represents an excellent campaign that helped them to secure their top-flight status much earlier than expected. They also remain close to the fight for Copa Sudamericana qualification, just five points behind the final spot in the overall standings. At home, Gimnasia have gone seven matches without defeat, winning six and drawing one. Deportivo Riestra suffered another disappointing result in a 3-0 home defeat to Lanús and remain unable to pull clear of the relegation threat. They have now gone five matches without a win in the Clausura, drawing three and losing two, and remain on just nine points in Group A, four behind the playoff places. El Malevo are still struggling to achieve their primary objective of avoiding relegation, sitting 28th in the annual table and seven points above the relegation zone, with plenty of work still to do to secure their top-flight status. Away, Riestra are 15 league matches without a win (seven stalemates and eight defeats). Despite last week’s defeat Gimnasia de Mendoza are still one of the surprises of this tournament and has been very strong at home where they’ve scored 7 goals in their last 3 matches so I’ll go for the OVER here on this very short totals line.