Preview: River Plate vs Boca Juniors - prediction, team news, lineups

The latest installation of the Superclasico returns to centre stage as River Plate welcomes Boca Juniors to the Estadio Monumental on Sunday evening.
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Currently second in Zona B of the Torneo Apertura on 26 points, three adrift of leaders Independiente Rivadavia, the Millonario will be looking to steal a march on their great rivals, who sit fourth in Zona A with 21 points, four behind pacesetters Velez Sarsfield.

Match preview

River headed into the weekend riding a wave of momentum, having sandwiched their league business between two Copa Sudamericana engagements, including the midweek’s 1-0 victory over Carabobo at the Monumental on the second matchday of the group stage.

Before that continental commitment, Eduardo Coudet's men had already secured their direct qualification to the Apertura playoffs courtesy of a 2-0 success at Racing, where strikes from Facundo Colidio and Sebastian Driussi settled matters at the Cilindro de Avellaneda.

Coudet's influence since taking the reins midway through the campaign has been striking, with the Argentine overseeing six wins and a single draw across his seven games in charge across all competitions, winning all five league matches in that sequence.

Significantly, all four of those five top-flight triumphs have been secured by a margin of at least two goals – all such victories coming with clean sheets – a pattern that points to a side dictating proceedings from the outset rather than one simply scraping results.

That appetite for early authority is evident across the broader run of fixtures, with River having opened the scoring in eight of their last nine outings, a habit that also carries into the derby picture, where the Millonario have drawn first blood in six of the last seven meetings with Boca.

The Nunez outfit have also been dominant on their own turf in recent times, prevailing in seven of their last eight home matches (L1), a result which provides an extra boost ahead of Sunday’s Superclasico.

History between the pair offers further encouragement for the hosts, with River's 2-1 triumph in the most recent meeting between the sides at the Monumental, courtesy of Franco Mastantuono and Driussi, still fresh in the memory.

Boca, for their part, will point to their 2-0 success in the Clausura 2025 encounter at La Bombonera, where goals from Exequiel Zeballos and Miguel Merentiel settled a derby the visitors will hope to draw confidence from.

For Claudio Ubeda's charges, the trip to Nunez arrives during an impressive unbeaten sequence that has now reached 12 matches across all competitions (W6, D6), representing the club's finest such streak since Jorge Almiron's spell in 2023.

Taking the wider view of Ubeda's reign, the Boca boss has accumulated a 65% points return across 26 fixtures in the dugout, with 15 wins alongside six stalemates and five reverses, with the numbers painting the picture of a competitive and stable outfit, if not always a dominant one.

The latest evidence of that steady progress arrived in midweek at La Bombonera, where Boca swept aside Barcelona SC 3-0 in the Copa Libertadores group stage thanks to headers from Lautaro Di Lollo and Santiago Ascacibar, before Ander Herrera rounded off the scoring with a long-range strike.

League business has proved a touch more stop-start, however, with the Xeneize held to a 1-1 draw by Independiente in their most recent such outing, though that result came from a side featuring 11 changes as Ubeda prioritised freshness ahead of this weekend's assignment.

Prior to that rotation exercise, Boca had reeled off three successive victories, including a 2-1 triumph over Universidad Catolica in the Libertadores, a 1-0 success at Talleres in Cordoba, and a 2-0 dismissal of Instituto, and they will hope to continue with their impressive momentum here.

River Plate Argentine Primera Division form:

River Plate form (all competitions):

Boca Juniors Argentine Primera Division form:

Boca Juniors form (all competitions):

Team News

River's casualty list offers little by way of encouragement for Coudet, with Fausto Vera (knee sprain), Juan Fernando Quintero (muscle), Giuliano Galoppo (ankle) and goalkeeper Franco Armani (tendon) all ruled out of Sunday's encounter.

Juan Portillo, who is still recovering from a cruciate ligament issue, and Meza, managing a knee problem, complete the list of absentees.

Despite the shortage of options, Coudet's preferred front three is anticipated to feature Colidio, Maximiliano Salas and Driussi, who has now scored five goals across his last seven appearances for the club, with Kendry Paez expected to continue in a creative midfield role.

On the injury front, Boca travel with a much lighter list of absentees, though the unavailability of Edinson Cavani (back) and Carlos Palacios (knee) removes two notable attacking options from Ubeda's squad.

In their stead, the forward pairing of Merentiel and Adan Bareiro is expected to lead the line, with Leandro Paredes anticipated to marshal proceedings from midfield alongside Ascacibar and Delgado.

Merentiel, who found the net at La Bombonera in the previous encounter, looms as Boca's chief goal threat in what should be a keenly contested affair.

River Plate possible starting lineup:

Beltran; Bustos, Martinez Quarta, Rivero, Acuna; Anibal Moreno, Paez, Galvan; Colidio, Driussi, Salas

Boca Juniors possible starting lineup:

Brey; Weigandt, Di Lollo, Ayrton Costa, Lautaro Blanco; Ascacibar, Delgado, Paredes, Aranda; Merentiel, Bareiro

We say: River Plate 1-0 Boca Juniors

River's form across the current campaign, allied with their strong recent record against Boca at the Monumental, points firmly towards a home success, although one that may arrive by a narrower margin than the emphatic scorelines Coudet's side have registered elsewhere.

Boca's defensive resilience under Ubeda should keep matters tight, but the hosts' habit of striking early, combined with their authority on home soil, is likely to prove the decisive factor in what promises to be a fiercely contested Superclasico.

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