Patronato can match their total number of wins from the opening phase in the Argentine Primera Division (three) when they head to Estadio Alfredo Terrera on Thursday to battle Central Cordoba.
El Patron are in great danger of falling into the second tier of Argentine football, sitting dead last in the relegation table, while Cordoba are only slightly above Aldovisi for one of those last two positions in the league.
Match preview
Heading into match number nine in the second round, Corboda are starting to show how bad they want to remain in the top-flight, earning four points in their last three league games.
In his first match in charge, Adrian Guillermo Adrover saw his players show plenty of resolve and determination, erasing a two-goal deficit to draw Estudiantes 2-2 over the weekend.
Starting matches slow and falling behind has been a common theme for them in the second phase of this domestic campaign, scoring only one first-half goal after seven fixtures while conceding the opening goal on five occasions.
At the moment, they find themselves fourth from the bottom in the relegation zone and will play two of their next three league fixtures at home, where they have lost back-to-back games.
There is a decent amount of depth on this squad, with six players having found the back of the net so far in this phase, but they often make one too many mental errors which in the end has proven costly.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have saved Patronato from relegation a season ago, but their poor domestic performances in recent years are now coming back to haunt them.
Accumulating 78 points over 83 league matches has given this team an average of 0.94, which has them sitting dead last in the relegation standings.
While their performance in the opening phase of this competition was not encouraging, gaining the fewest points of any top-flight team (10), they have shown minor improvements of late, the most significant being that they have not lost consecutive matches in the second round.
Improving their form away from home would be a good step forward in their quest to dig themselves out of relegation danger, and they managed to earn their first points on the road in the second phase last Monday, coming back from two goals down to draw Newell's Old Boys 2-2.
Facundo Sava knows that for them to survive another season in the top flight, his side will need to show more structure and organisation along the backline, allowing the most goals in the opening phase (25) while conceding the third-most so far in this round (10).
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Team News
Gonzalo Torres and Alejandro Martinez finally got their names on the scoresheet for Cordoba last Sunday, while Jesus Soraire had their only tally in a 2-1 defeat in their previous home fixture versus Argentinos Juniors.
Francisco Gonzalez Metilli, who is on loan from Argentinos, is tied with Claudio Riano for the team lead in goals in this phase (two) while he also has the most assists (two), with Ivan Ramirez and Lucas Besozzi being the only other players to have set up a goal for them after seven matches.
Cordoba could be missing a handful of players for this encounter, including Renzo Lopez (Achilles tendon), Andres Mehring (ACL), Jose Leguizamon (knee), Matias Laba (hip), Juan Cruz Kaprof (muscle) and Claudio Riano (muscle).
Patronato keeper Facundo Altamirano only had three shots fired his way over the weekend, but he failed to keep out a Facundo Kruspzky strike as his team fell 1-0 versus Arsenal Sarandi.
Axel Rodriguez leads the way in goals for them in this phase with two, while Sebastian Medina and Raul Lozano scored in their 2-2 draw versus La Lepra last week and Jonas Acevedo has two assists to lead the way for them in that department.
Matias Pardo is expected to miss another game due to a ligament injury, while three changes were made to the starting 11 on Saturday as Leonel Mosevich, Carlos Quintana and Jonathan Herrera replaced Francisco Alvarez, Juan Guasone and Marcelo Estigarribia.
Central Cordoba possible starting lineup:
Toselli; Bay, Barrionuevo, Pereyra, Gomez; Soraire, Linares, Ramirez; Martinez, Torres, Metilli
Patronato possible starting lineup:
Altamirano; Lozano, Alvarez, Mosevich, Cobos; Acevedo, Leys, Giani, Kruspzky; Ortiz, Rodriguez
We say: Central Cordoba 2-1 Patronato
We anticipate this will be a tight game between two teams fighting tooth and nail to remain in the top flight, but the consistency and the overall structure of Cordoba seem to be just a little stronger than their opponents, which is why they are getting a slight edge.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
