Newell’s Old Boys welcome Union Sante Fe to Estadio Marcelo Bielsa in the Argentine Primera Division on Monday night.
Heading into Matchday 20, the hosts occupy 11th place in the table, while the visitors find themselves second from bottom, despite a run of three straight victories.
El plantel retomó los trabajos en el predio de cara al lunes 🔋Dale 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/kiSe3irayB— Newell’s Old Boys (@Newells) June 8, 2023
El plantel retomó los trabajos en el predio de cara al lunes 🔋Dale 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/kiSe3irayB
Can Union Santa Fe extend their winning streak? Or will Newell’s Old Boys continue to climb the standings? It’s time to take a closer look at the teams.
Let’s start with the hosts, Newell’s Old Boys, who claimed a 2-1 victory over Brazilian side Santos in the Copa Sudamericana in midweek.
That win extended Newell’s Old Boys’ unbeaten streak to four matches across all competitions, with three wins and one draw coming since their last loss.
When you look at the bigger picture, Newell’s Old Boys have lost just one of their previous nine games, picking up five wins and three draws along the way.
Having lost one of their last six Primera Division outings – keeping four clean sheets in the process – Newell’s Old Boys will head into Monday’s clash with plenty of confidence.
As for Union Santa Fe, they managed to win just one of their opening 15 league encounters this season, recording six draws and eight losses during that period.
Since then, however, Union Santa Fe have notched three successive clean-sheet victories to move off the foot of the table.
After claiming 1-0 wins over Club Atletico Central Cordoba and Huracan, Union Santa Fe defeated Gimnasia 2-0 last time out, extending their winning run to three games.
That said, Union Santa Fe have struggled on the road in recent times, winning only two of their previous 20 away outings in the league.
Head-to-head: Union Santa Fa have managed to win just one of their last seven meetings with Newell’s Old Boys across all competitions.
To make matters worse for Union Santa Fe, they have picked up a solitary victory in their previous 11 Primera Division encounters with Newell’s Old Boys.
Team news: Newell’s Old Boys are still without long-term injury absentees Fabian Angel and Francisco Gonzalez, who are both recovering from ACL injuries.
Union Santa Fe have reported no injury problems ahead of Monday’s showdown, meaning head coach Sebastian Mendez has a full-strength squad at his disposal.
Although Union Santa Fe have upped their game in recent weeks, Newell’s Old Boys should be too strong for the basement dwellers.
Forebet predicts that Newell’s Old Boys will score over 1.5 goals and keep a clean sheet on their way to getting the better of Union Santa Fe.