Preview:Newell's Old Boys vs. Defensa y Justicia - prediction, team news, lineups

Having recently tasted defeat for the first time this season, Newell's Old Boys welcome Defensa y Justicia to the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa on Monday.

On the other hand, the away side head into the clash looking to make it four wins from their last five matches across all competitions.

Match preview

Newell's Old Boys fell to a narrow 1-0 loss against city rivals Rosario Central at the Estadio Gigante de Arroyito on Thursday evening.

Javier Sanguinetti's men fell behind on the stroke of half time to Alejo Veliz's opener, which proved to be the all-important moment in Rosario.

Consequently, La Lepra have slipped to fifth place in the league table and are now three points adrift of Argentinos Juniors at the top of the pile.

Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have enjoyed the better of the previous meetings between the teams, winning six of 10 encounters.

Ahead of a crunch clash against joint league leaders Atletico Tucuman on six days later, Monday's hosts will be looking to set the tone with a dominant display here.

Defensa y Justicia came out on top for the second home match running following a 2-1 victory over Independiente at the Estadio Norberto Tito Tomaghello on Wednesday.

Sebastian Beccacece's men edged ahead in the 28th minute through Manuel Duarte before Adonis Frias doubled the lead in the second half, rendering Alex Vigo's late strike inconsequential.

The Hawks now sit 20th in the Argentine Primera Division standings and things are looking up once again after a rough start to the season.

With just one win from their last eight outings on the road, Monday's visitors have it all to do as they look to improve their fortunes on the road.

Team News

Kevin Gutierrez is suspended for Defensa after receiving his marching orders for two bookable offences Independiente last time out.

Nicolas Fernandez will be pushing for a recall to the starting XI here having had to make do with a second-half cameo in the aforementioned game.

First-choice goalkeeper Ramiro Macagno remains sidelined for Newell's Old Boys with a shoulder injury and is set to miss Monday's contest.

Eighteen-year-old Franco Herrera is expected to retain his place between the sticks for what would be a third consecutive appearance.

Cristian Ferreira has failed to feature in any of the home side's last three outings, but the Argentinian could make his return to action in this one.

Newell's Old Boys possible starting lineup:

Herrera; Campagnaro, Ditta, Lema, Velazquez, Jacob; Sordo, Sforza, Fernandez, Gonzalez; Garcia

Defensa y Justicia possible starting lineup:

Unsain; Colombo, Frias, Cardona, Soto; Tripichio, Duarte; Dominguez, Albertengo, Togni; Fernandez

We say: Newell's Old Boys 1-0 Defensa y Justicia

Off the back of a bump in the road last time out, the home side will be keen to bounce back against their visitors, who look to have got their act together of late. We expected a close encounter with Newell's Old Boys battling to a hard-fought victory at the end of the 90 minutes.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.