Both sides kick off Week 2 hoping to get their first points on the board having suffered two-goal defeats in the opening matchday. Guaireña took the lead at home to Nacional but fell 3-1, their third straight defeat in Primera despite having scored in all three games. Tacuary weren’t at the races in Trinidad as the newly promoted Sportivo Trinidense defeated them 2-0, it was their first fixture failing to score since October, snapping a run of six matches.

Robert Pereira lined up in his normal attacking 4-4-2 formation but it was surprising to see Luis Cabral move to right back, the 39-year-old central defender isn’t accustomed to playing on the flanks and it showed. In midfield Oscar Ruiz made his debut on the left but limped off after 26 minutes and will be out for at least three weeks, his replacement Elías Alfonso has potential but not the track record of the 31 year old who had just returned from a stint in Brazil.

Guaireña’s fate will rely heavily on the form of striker Nildo Viera who netted eight times during the Clausura and was on the scoresheet in their opener last week. He was ably supported by Antonio Marin and José Ariel Núñez as Roberto Torres looked to play his expansive 4-3-3 that worked well at Resistencia for much of last year. Mario Otazu didn’t play a part, but he was pictured in training this week, the 26-year-old left winger had a great 2022 Apertura which saw him loaned to Argentina.

Tacuary failed to score against Guaireña in all four meetings last season, in fact there were only two goals across the games with the Albiceleste winning 1-0 twice and two goalless draws. However the only meeting between Robert Pereira and Roberto Torres in 2022 was a 1-0 win to Pereira’s 12 de Octubre. With a stronger side and both teams prone to conceding, there is a higher chance of goals. Tacuary have kept just one clean sheet in their last six and have only failed to score once in their last seven. Guiareña have failed to score once in their last five and also kept just one clean sheet in that period.

The aurinegro suffered an opening day loss as they conceded a 97th minute penalty to Libertad while Sportivo Ameliano were pegged back by Cerro Porteño but stretched their unbeaten run to six matches in all competitions.

Guaraní have struggled in the league losing six of their last seven and the change in manager for the start of this season only saw them lose again. They can take some solace from the fact they are back at home in the Rogelio Livieres where they won 2-1 against Tacuary in their previous outing. They’ve also racked up the goals at home scoring in seven of their last eight matches which includes games against Olimpia and Libertad. New signing Facundo Barceló will be desperate to get off the mark here, the Uruguayan netted 5 times in his final 12 matches with O’Higgins in Chile before crossing the Andes to Gauraní.

Sportivo Ameliano have held onto their most important striker from last season, Alex Arce, and the 27-year-old forward took just 11 minutes to open the scoring in La Nueva Olla against Cerro Porteño. He has six goals in his last eight league games, a critical part of the V Azulada’s upturn in fortunes. Humberto Garcia played his standard 4-4-2 against Cerro and will likely field a similarly organized structure here and look to win the game on the break or from set pieces.

The last meeting between these two was a 4-2 win for Ameliano, the most goals they have ever scored in the top division and their only victory over Guaraní. With the away side on such a good run and the home team still coming together under new coach Rodrigo López it is hard to pick the match result. However, with both sides looking to play without the ball and plenty of quick transitions expected we can expect to see goals at both ends of the pitch.