Talleres travel to Buenos Aires to face Huracan on Friday knowing anything but a win will hand the Primera Division title to River Plate.

There is also a lot on the line for the hosts, who are staring down the barrel at relegation following a woeful run of form.

Match preview

After finishing fourth and qualifying for continental football last year, this season could not have gone any more differently for Huracan.

The stark contrast in results is highlighted mainly by the fact that Huracan have won just one of their last 20 league matches.

That success came at home to Arsenal Sarandi, the only side still below them in the Argentine top flight.

Ten matches have passed since that victory, and the side have scored just one goal, picking up a meagre three points in the process.

Losing last season's top scorer Franco Cristaldo, who netted 14 goals on their way to that fourth-place finish, has played a part in their striking woes, given he has not been suitably replaced.

What is peculiar though, is that Huracan have not been on the end of any thrashings, as six of their last nine outings have ended in 1-0 defeats.

It does leave them huge favourites to be relegated though, because with Sarandi bottom of both the league table and the coefficient relegation standings, Huracan will be relegated should they finish second bottom.

With a six-point gap between themselves and the five sides sat level on points with each other above them, survival looks near-impossible now, especially given their recent form.

Along with a rotten domestic campaign, Huracan also finished bottom of their Copa Sudamericana group, to round off a truly dreadful 2023 which will almost certainly end in relegation.

A win is to be expected for Talleres, but that may only keep the title race alive for another 24 hours.

Even if Talleres win, a point for River in any of their final three games will see them clinch the title, with the visitors here now the only side still within reach.

With three games to go though, the gap is nine points, after Talleres failed to pounce yet again on a slip up by River.

River's 0-0 draw with San Lorenzo opened the door for Talleres to close the gap, but they too failed to win, drawing by the same scoreline against 25th-placed Union Santa Fe last weekend.

Winning just one of their last four games has ended any realistic hopes Talleres will have had of catching the champions elect, but they are still on course for a group stage spot in next season's Copa Libertadores.

Javier Gandolfi's men have been lucky that the sides below them have similarly faltered, as they enter the weekend's action two points ahead of San Lorenzo, and four ahead of Lanus, who lead the chasing pack.

Team News

Fernando Godoy's late red card in defeat at Boca Juniors on Monday night means he will be suspended for Huracan here.

Godoy will join a trio of injured players on the sidelines, with Federico Fattori, Cesar Ibanez and Fernando Torrent all out until August.

Talleres' only absentee will be Chilean Vicente Fernandez, who remains out with a meniscus injury.

Diego Valoyes's recent form saw him earn a Colombia call up last month, and he will look to be a key provider for the league's top scorer Michael Santos.

Huracan possible starting lineup:
Chaves; Soto, Tobio, Novillo, Benitez; Gomez, Acevedo, Hezze, Gauto; Mazzantti, Coccaro

Talleres possible starting lineup:
Herrera; Benavidez, Catalan, Rodriguez, Portillo; Ortegoza, Villagra, Garro; Valoyes, Santos, Sosa

We say: Huracan 0-1 Talleres

After six 1-0 defeats in their last nine games, a similar scoreline could be on the cards for Huracan against a Talleres side who have not exactly been firing on all cylinders, but should take the three points.

The visitors have lost on five of their last six trips here, but on none of those occasions have Huracan been as poor and out of form as they are now.


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