Cerro Porteño v Tacuary

It has been a challenging week for Cerro Porteño, having seen Libertad lift the league title last week after failing to beat them they then suffered a 3-0 reverse to Palmeiras at home and are all but out of the Copa Libertadores.  

Undoubtedly Chiqui Arce is going to mix up the team to rest players ahead of the return leg in Brazil, his hand is also forced with Claudio Aquino, Daniel Rivas and Rafael Carrascal all suspended while Luis Fariña has left the club and Fabián Franco is injured.  It is feasible we don’t see a single player that participated in the previous league meeting with Tacuary, one that ended in a surprise 2-0 defeat. 

In contrast to the azulgrana, Tacuary do have something to play for in this game as they need to keep summing up points to stay clear of relegation at the end of the year. Their problem has clearly been in front of goal with 12 scoreless matches at least two more than any other side in the division. That has been a serious issue for the new coach Humberto Ovelar who is yet to see his team score as visitors under his reign. When they do find the net they have often managed to do enough to win, scoring 2+ goals in six matches but even against a makeshift Cerro side it seems a tall order. The vice champions have the best defence in the league and while in part it has been down to individual performances much of it is from the organization of the coach, something that will prevail even with new personnel. Only three of El Ciclón’s last nine home league games have gone over 2.5 goals and two were in strange circumstances – the 4-0 rout of Libertad who tried to go toe-to-toe and the more recent 3-1 against General Caballero playing with 10 men from 16 minutes and nine men from 74 minutes.

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Resistencia v Libertad

On paper a game with little at stake, Resistencia are relatively safe from relegation and Libertad are focused on the Copa Libertadores 2^nd leg next week with the title already wrapped up. That said a win for the champions would see them equal the record points total of 57, achieved by the Libertad team of 2008.

There were seven changes to the side that beat Cerro Porteño in the league and the one that lost to Atlético Paranaense in Curitiba and it is highly likely the three outfield players that started both matches (Roque Santa Cruz, Lorenzo Melgarejo and Diego Viera) will be rested. It means likely game time for Óscar Cardozo and Antonio Bareiro further up the field, while Marcelo Díaz and Bautista Merlini could return in the middle. 

The game will be played at the national stadium the Defensores del Chaco, and the large pitch is something that Resistencia should enjoy given their expansive style of play. That said there has been a distinct drop off in form in the 2^nd half of the season which has even affected their attacking play, the side from the Chacarita have managed just two goals in their last six. They are on a seven game winless run which has seen Roberto Torres try and tinker with his team to find the right combination. Yet in the previous game, a 2-1 defeat against General Caballero, it was his tried and tested partnership of Pablo Palacios and Ronaldo Martínez that combined for the consolation effort.

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Guaraní v Olimpia

The clásico añejo is going to be played at Defensores del Chaco, it’s historic home, as the country’s two oldest sides go head to head. Olimpia come into the match off the back of an excellent victory in the Copa Sudamericana that has seen them go six games unbeaten. The aurinegro are on a similar rich vein of form, picking up 17 points from their last seven games. 

While all-time top scorer Fernando Fernández has been the key figure in this purple patch, Fernando Jubero has begun to promote younger players without affecting results. Teenagers Romeo Benítez and Milciades Adorno have not just been getting playing time recently but producing, they have three goals and one assist in their nine combined starts.

Olimpia must focus on the return leg in Brazil against Atlético Goianiense and will certainly rest some of their stars for this league finale. Derlis González (six goals in six league starts) will likely be replaced by Walter González, no relation, who has five goals in his last nine league matches. Olimpia won the last meeting 1-0, but it was only the 2^nd time in the last ten contests that they had gone under 2.5 goals. Both sides have been finding the net regularly, Guaraní have scored in their last ten consecutive matches while Olimpia have done so in six, scoring an average of 3 per game.

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