Wednesday 14 November 2007

Copa Sudamericana Semi-Final 2nd Leg Preview: River Plate vs Arsenal de Sarandi

After a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Sarandi, River Plate and Arsenal square off in tonight's second leg with a place in the Copa Sudamericana Final against America up for grabs.

River Plate have home advantage on their side, but if Arsenal can score then River will have to win the game otherwise they will be defeated on the away goals rule. Such a defeat could spell the end of Daniel Passarella's time in charge of River, as this is his last chance to gain the silverware he promised before the end of the year.

Arsenal won 2-1 when the sides met in round eight of the Apertura, but they currently lie four points and nine places below River in the league.

Both sides rested almost their entire first teams for last weekend's games, with River losing 2-1 to Huracan and Arsenal 4-0 to Argentinos Juniors. They should therefore be in good shape ahead of this game.

Judging by some of the stunning second leg ties River have been involved in already in this competition, tonight's game promises to be a cracker.

The expected lineups for the two sides are as follows:

River:
Juan Carrizo, Paulo Ferrari, Cristian Nasuti, Eduardo Tuzzio, Leonardo Ponzio, Fernando Belluschi, Oscar Ahumada, Augusto Fernandez, Diego Buonanotte, Ariel Ortega and Andres Rios.

Arsenal:
Mario Cuenca, Javier Gandolfi, Jossimar Mosquera, Anibal Matellan, Christian Diaz, Sebastian Carrera, Castiglione, Andres San Martin, Javier Yacuzzi, Leonardo Biagini and Jose Calderon.

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