MX23RW : Friday, July 23 16:39:35| >> :600:336210:336210:
Jul 21, 2021 at 1.30am UK at Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón
RacingRacing Club
1-3
Sao PauloSao Paulo
Correa (63')
Antonio Pizzi Torroja (72'), Miranda (73')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Rigoni (44', 57'), Vinicius Oliveira Alencar (48')
Pele (12')

Preview: Racing Club vs. Sao Paulo - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Copa Libertadores clash between Racing Club and Sao Paulo, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Racing Club and Sao Paulo will battle for a spot in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday, when they square off in the second leg in Argentina.

The sides come into the game level, having drawn 1-1 in the first leg in Brazil last Wednesday.


Match preview

Racing Club's Imanol Segovia celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on 18 May, 2021© Reuters

Racing Club cruised through the Copa Libertadores group stage with relative ease, winning four of their six games and remaining unbeaten to top the group with 14 points.

That included a 1-0 win over Sao Paulo, with Joaquin Novillo scoring the only goal of the game to see them defeat their round-of-16 opponents.

On the domestic scene, Juan Antonio Pizzi's side find themselves in a mixed run of form, having ended the first phase of the Argentine Premier Division with consecutive wins to finish fourth before being held to a goalless draw in the first game of the second phase against Velez Sarsfield.

With home advantage coming up, La Academia will certainly take confidence from the first leg, with saw them navigate through a tricky away tie and remain level.

In the first leg, Vitor Bueno gave Sao Paulo the lead in the 33rd minute, before Enzo Copetti drew the Argentinian side level on the stroke of half time.

They will now look to record their second victory over their group rivals in the Copa Libertadores this season in order to book their place in the quarter-finals.

That will undoubtedly be a difficult task, though, with Sao Paulo desperate to defeat Racing Club after three failed attempts this year.

Sao Paulo's Gabriel Sara celebrates scoring their second goal with Martin Benitez on June 23, 2021© Reuters

The first of the two group meeting between the sides saw the Brazilian giants travel to Greater Buenos Aires and come away with a commendable point following a goalless draw.

Meanwhile, their only defeat in the group stage came to the Argentinian side, as two wins over Sporting Cristal and a 2-0 victory against Rentistas saw them finish comfortably in second spot with 11 points from six games.

However, Hernan Crespo's men have had a relatively poor start to the domestic season, currently sitting in 15th spot in the Brazilian top flight with 11 points and just two victories from the opening 12 games.

Those two wins both came in the lead up to the first leg last week, as they defeated Internacional 2-0 and Bahia 1-0 before being beaten 1-0 by Fortaleza last time out.

They will hope to forget their league form and finally get a victory over Racing Club at a crucial time in order to seal their place in the final eight.

Racing Club Copa Libertadores form:
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D

Racing Club form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • D

Sao Paulo Copa Libertadores form:
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • D

Sao Paulo form (all competitions):
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • L



Team News

Sao Paulo's Luis Orejuela celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on May 12, 2021© Reuters

Racing Club's star man could again be attacker Tomas Chancalay, who has hit five goals in five Copa Libertadores appearances this season.

Enzo Copetti should continue to lead the line, having hit the equaliser in the away leg.

Nery Dominguez, Mauricio Martinez and Leonardo Sigali will likely reform a back three after a solid performance last time out.

Sao Paulo could remain without forward Eder, who was forced off through injury in the first half of the home leg and missed the latest league game as a result.

However, they do have a ready-made attacking replacement in Vitor Bueno, who scored the opening goal almost immediately after coming on in place of Eder.

Racing Club possible starting lineup:
Arias; Dominguez, Martinez, Sigali; Caceres, Mena, Moreno, Miranda, Piatti; Chancalay, Copetti

Sao Paulo possible starting lineup:
Volpi; Costa, Arboleda, Leo; Vinicius, Santos, Liziero, Welington; Bueno; Gomes, Benitez


SM words green background

We say: Racing Club 1-0 Sao Paulo

Having already squared off three times in this year's Copa America, the two sides will certainly know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and with two draws and a narrow Racing Club victory so far, it will definitely be a close encounter.

We see Racing Club just getting over the line on Wednesday to advance to the final eight thanks to their impressive defensive solidity, but the clash could undoubtedly go either way.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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How you voted: Racing vs Sao Paulo

Racing Club
85.7%
Draw
9.5%
Sao Paulo
4.8%
21
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