Boca-Central Córdoba: timetable, anticipation, how to watch it and probable formations

Boca Juniorsthe current Argentine soccer champion, will receive Central Cordoba from Santiago del Estero with the premise of obtaining his second victory in the Professional Soccer League (LPF), after his successful debut in which he starred last week with a victory over Atlético Tucumán.

The match will be played this Sunday starting at 19:15 at La Bombonera, it will be refereed by Andrés Merlos and broadcast by TNT Sports.

Boca started their title defense with a narrow victory over the Tucumans 1-0, with a goal scored by Paraguayan Oscar Romero, while the people of Santiago weren’t much of an advantage from the match, as they started with a home defeat against the River Piatto (2-0) and now they will play Bombonera.

In the case of the “Xeneize” team led by Hugo Ibarra, it showed the same strengths and weaknesses as in 2022, when it won two titles, the League Cup and the Professional League, and improvement is expected upon returning to the fight Above.

Boca have category players who tend to solve the lack of a more oiled operation, and the little game they generate is usually solved by the Colombian Sebastián Villa, or like last week by the Paraguayan Romero.

The Boca 2023 version shows Sergio “Chiquito” Romero in goal as a “new face”, who arrived last year but was only able to make his debut 20 days ago, in place of the team’s top figure, Agustín Rossi, and in defense is the Paraguayan Bruno Valdéz, one of the two incorporations of the club in the recent transfer market.

The other addition was Uruguayan striker Miguel Merentiel, who arrived on loan this week from Palmeiras, Brazil, and will take up a place on the bench this Sunday.

Merentiel has joined in to contribute to the goals, given that Darío Benedetto is suspended (he will only be able to play in the fifth round), the young Luca Langoni has lost ground in Ibarra’s consideration, and the offensive starter with Villa is for now Nicolás Orsini, who is characterized by scoring often.

With this landscape, Boca will once again call on what Oscar Romero, Guillermo “Pol” Fernández and even Alan Varela can contribute to the generation, and will have an important offensive card as Colombian left-back Frank Fabra returns, replacing Agustin Sandez.

Fabra forms an excellent partnership with his compatriot Villa and when they unite in the left sector of the attack, Boca usually have more varied assets, although the rivals are often situation aware and double the score in that area.

Its rivals, Central Córdoba from Santiago del Estero, have been completely renewed for the new tournament and in fact have been the team that has incorporated the most, with a total of 20 players, plus DT Leonardo Madelón, who has experience and usually puts together solid formations.

The people of Santiago could repeat the team that lost against River last weekend, although there is also the possibility that their most outstanding reinforcement, Luis Miguel “Pulga” Rodríguez, from Tucumán, important in the offensive imbalance, enters as owner.

Santiago’s men will try to make Boca uncomfortable and create problems with the presence of their forwards, one Facundo Castelli, very powerful and used to friction (he comes from promotion) and the other Lucas Gamba, a born scorer who usually takes advantage of opportunities presented to him…

Boca, for its part, will try to corner the people of Santiago with the Fabra-Villa tandem, the imbalance of Oscar Romero and the power of Orsini, in an improved version, especially physically, compared to previous years.

The record between the two is just five games, with two wins each and a draw.

The last precedent at La Bombonera dates back to 11 December 2021 and Boca, with Sebastián Battaglia as coach, prevailed by a categorical 8 to 1 with two goals from Cristian Pavón and the others from Eduardo “Toto” Salvio, Exequiel Zeballos, Diego ” Octopus” González, Sebastián Villa, Luis Vázquez and Eros Mancuso.

– Probable formations –

Boca Juniors: Sergio Romero; Luis Advíncula, Bruno Valdéz, Nicolás Figal and Frank Fabra; Guillermo “Pol” Fernández, Alan Varela, Juan Ramírez and Oscar Romero; Nicola Orsini and Sebastiano Villa. DT: Hugo Ibarra.

Central Córdoba of Santiago del Estero: Marcos Ledesma; Brian Blasi, Fabio Pereyra, Gustavo Canto and Marcelo Benítez; Ciro Rius, Jesús Soraire, Enzo Kalinski and Leandro Ciccoloni or Luis Miguel Rodríguez; Facundo Castelli and Lucas Gamba. DT: Leonardo Madelon.

Referee: Andres Merlos.

Stadium: Boca Juniors.

Starting time: 19.15.

TV: TNT Sports.