Boca Juniors vs Velez Sarsfield Predictions

Monday’s Superliga Argentina action features a clash between reigning champions Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield. The hosts are expected to get the better of what’s set to be a heated 90 minutes.

With their place in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores booked after a 4-2 win away at Paraguayans Libertad in midweek, Boca can now focus on getting their title defence really underway. After losing at Estudiantes and drawing to Huracan, Boca find themselves on 4 points after 3 matches and that means for the first time in over 600 days, they are not top of the Argentine pile.

Nonetheless, the season is still well in its infancy and El Xeneize are still the overwhelming favourites to lift the crown given the amount of talent in their ranks. Boca may not have looked convincing in their two away games in the action we’ve seen so far but they did see off Talleres in front of the home crowd on opening day, which means they come into this clash having won 10 of their last 11 Superliga games at the Bombonera.

Meanwhile, visitors Velez arrive highly motivated to spring an upset, with no love lost between themselves and Boca after events in the off-season. El Fortin’s prodigal son, Mauro Zarate, sealed a romantic return to the club on loan last season and was set to make the move permanent but instead opted to join Boca, going back on his promise that’d he’d never play for anyone but Velez in Argentina and leaving a sense of betrayal running rife in visiting ranks.

Gabriel Heinze’s troops need the points for much more than revenge as well, as they look to starve off the threat of relegation. The visitors are currently 8 points above San Martin de San Juan and Belgrano on the average points table, but know they cannot afford to put in a poor campaign. Velez had kicked the season off with a solid home victory over Newell’s but were then dominated in a 2-0 defeat at Racing Club prior to labouring to a 1-1 draw with Banfield last weekend, meaning performances haven’t been the most convincing in recent weeks.

Ultimately, as much as Velez would love to get one over on Boca, that’s not something that looks at all likely and we can only see the hosts winning the match, something which we’re backing with maximum confidence.

The quality between the two on paper is huge and Boca are highly unlikely to slip up on a home turf they’re so typically dominant. Velez looked a weak outfit away at Racing in their last road outing and Boca should have far too much for them, with a 3-1 margin of home victory on the cards.