Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Argentine Primera Division clash between Rosario Central and Lanus, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Rosario Central will look to bounce back from their continental heartbreak in midweek when they welcome Lanus to Estadio Gigante de Arroyito on Sunday.
Similarly, the away side make the journey to Rosario aiming to get back on track off the back of a first defeat in four matches last time out.
Match preview
Rosario Central were dumped out of the group stages of the Copa Libertadores following a 2-1 defeat against Penarol at Campeon del Siglo on Tuesday.
After going behind to Leonardo Fernandez‘s opener, Miguel Angel Russo‘s men restored parity through Augustin Modica before Fernandez grabbed the winner seven minutes from time.
Prior to that, La Canalla claimed a 2-0 triumph over Deportivo Riestra and moved up to 11th place in the Argentine Primera Division table as a result.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are without defeat in the last eight editions of this fixture since their last defeat in 2018.
Unbeaten in nine of their 11 home matches since the turn of the year, Sunday’s hosts will be getting the job done in front of their fans once again.
Lanus wrapped up their Copa Sudamericana campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat against Brazilian side Cuiaba at the Estadio Ciudad de Lanus on Wednesday.
Ricardo Zielinski‘s men were in the ascendancy for large spells of the contest but could not find an answer for Isidro Pitta‘s opener in the 51st minute.
This came off the back of a 2-1 win over Estudiantes for El Granate which saw them move up to 14th in the standings with four points from three outings so far.
Having kept clean sheets in two of their last three matches on the road, Sunday’s visitors will seek to put on another solid defensive display away from home en route to a positive result.
Rosario Central Argentine Primera Division form:
Rosario Central form (all competitions):
Lanus Argentine Primera Division form:
Lanus form (all competitions):
Team News
Francis Mac Allister and Agustin Bravo are ruled out for Rosario Central through knee injuries, while Abel Hernandez misses out with an ankle problem.
The hosts will also be without the services of Dannovi Quinones who has not featured since the second week of December due to a long-term injury.
Lanus’ Walter Bou will serve the second of his three-game suspension after receiving his marching orders in the victory over Estudiantes.
Leandro Diaz and Julio Cesar Soler are out of contention for the away side as they continue to nurse knee and muscle injuries respectively.
Rosario Central possible starting lineup:
Werner; Rodriguez, Komar, Gimenez, Coronel; Ibarra, Ortiz; Lo Celso, Gomez, Giaccone; Dupuy
Lanus possible starting lineup:
Aguerre; Agirre, Munoz, Luciatti, Morgantini; Loaiza, Biafore, Carrera; Alvarez, Moreno, Torres
We say: Rosario Central 1-1 Lanus
There is little to pick between the teams and Sunday’s clash could easily swing either way. We are backing a share of the spoils with honours even at the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.