Welcome to another heated Liga Profesional matchup, friends. Today we have the gutsy Atlético Tucumán taking on the underdogs, Tigre. Evoking the spirit of a fierce jungle cat is apparently not enough to give Tigre the edge in this game but hey, who knows much about omens anyway?
Guarding the posts for Atlético Tucumán, we have the dependable Tomás Durso. A fine goalkeeper overall, but with only 11 saves and an average rating of 6.93, he might not be exactly the Great Wall of China. Tigre, on the other hand, has Alan Sosa between the sticks. Sosa seems to be handling business much better with a rating of 7.50 and 12 saves. So, point Tigre, I guess?
In terms of firepower, Atlético Tucumán has some talent on the pitch. Turn your eyes to Mateo Bajamich, a sharpshooter with a 7.27 rating and 2 goals from his last 2 shots. Now, that's what I call efficiency! And let's not forget Matías Orihuela, Tucumán's midfield maestro, boasting a 7.60 rating despite having 0 goals and shots on goal. Guess he thrives on others' actions, like a good in-law.
Tigre does try to level the playing field with their own set of players, but they're more like cute kittens than ferocious tigers. We've got Nehuén Paz, the defensive stalwart, and Santiago Gonzalez, whose 80.3% accurate pass rate is nice but probably won't result in an avalanche of goals. Strategist much? Their best shot at a goal might come from Florián Monzón, with a solitary goal to his name but a low pass rate of 57.4%.
Turmoil seems to be Tigre's middle name if we look at their regular season record of 4-6-6, even though their recent result against Independiente is a point in their favour. The Atlético Tucumán lot are fairing somewhat better with a 7-5-4 record; their recent stalemate against Argentinos Juniors isn't exactly a confidence booster, though.
Throwing tons of statistics at you won't make this prediction any easier, but it's clear who's coming into this game with an upper hand. So, my prediction?
Albert’s Prediction: Atlético Tucumán by 1