Tigre were brought back down to earth last week with a draw against Estudiantes La Plata, but if a draw against one of Argentina’s top teams is what happens when they’re brought back down toe earth, they might be a legitimate title contender after all. They still top the table, one point ahead of Boca Juniors and two ahead of both Estudiantes and Velez Sarsfield.
Argentine Primera 2012, Week 7 Preview And Fixtures: Table Toppers All Favored
The teams near the top of the Primera table all face winnable games, though no one has a cakewalk. In Rafaela, Atletico and San Lorenzo are playing a massive relegation decider.
Boca should win at home this week against Lanus, though it seems like Lanus have to pull out a win eventually. They’ve lost four in a row, even though they’re doing fine in Copa Libertadores. Boca showed in their match against Independiente that they’re not impervious to meltdowns, but their last two wins in the league and Libertadores indicate that it was just a slight hiccup, and not an indicator of a deeply flawed team.
Estudiantes go away to face Argentinos Juniors, who are actually considerably worse at home than they are on the road. Tigre has a tough road match against Arsenal de Sarandi, who are undefeated at home, while Velez hosts a very defensively sound Newell’s Old Boys team on Monday. After a surprise loss to Belgrano in Week 4, Newell’s have recorded two straight shutout wins.
Tigre have pulled themselves out of the bottom two and it’s hard to believe that they’re going to fall back down. That means that Atletico de Rafaela and Olimpo are going to have to do a lot of work to catch San Lorenzo and Union. All Boys are also not out of the woods completely, while San Martin appear to have played themselves out of danger. Atletico hosts San Lorenzo on Saturday, and it will be a massive blow to one if the other can capture all three poitns.
Schedule (all times ET)
Banfield vs. All Boys - Friday, 8:30 p.m.
Atletico Rafaela vs. San Lorenzo - Saturday, 5:15 p.m.
Belgrano vs. San Martin - Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Racing vs. Union - Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Argentinos Juniors vs. Estudiantes - Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
Colon vs. Independiente - Sunday, 5:15 p.m.
Arsenal vs. Tigre - Sunday, 6:10 p.m.
Boca Juniors vs. Lanus - Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
Godoy Cruz vs. Olimpo - Monday, 6:10 p.m.
Velez vs. Newell’s Old Boys - Monday, 8:15 p.m.
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