River host Argentinos Juniors seeking to halt poor run in Clausura Group B | OneFootball

River host Argentinos Juniors at El Monumental on Sunday 16 August in the fifth round of the Torneo Clausura 2026 Group B, live in Argentina on ESPN Premium. Bottom face leaders in a meeting of contrasting form as River chase their first points.

According to SuperDepor.com, Eduardo Coudet plans to hand Thiago Almada his first start in place of Tomás Galván, ahead of Wednesday’s Copa Sudamericana first leg against Independiente Santa Fe, rescheduled after a strong earthquake in Colombia. River are on a six-match losing streak in official games and four straight league defeats, and have gone several outings without scoring.

Marcos Acuña, Mauro Arambarri and Sebastián Driussi remain unavailable as they complete recoveries and aim to return against Santa Fe. Driussi, sidelined by a right soleus tear, has not yet been cleared.

Santiago Beltrán is set to start in goal, with Gonzalo Montiel, Nicolás Otamendi, Lucas Martínez Quarta and Francisco Ortega in defence. Aníbal Moreno and Tobías Andrada anchor midfield, Almada will operate as the playmaker, with Joaquín Freitas and Ángel Correa out wide. Up front, Coudet weighs Lucas Beltrán or Rafael Santos Borré.

Nicolás Diez’s Argentinos arrive with a perfect record, the only side to have won four from four, after a 2-1 victory over Racing, and they are also pushing near the top of the annual table. The most recent meeting went their way, 1-0 on 12 February courtesy of López Muñoz. Facundo Tello will referee, with Pablo Echavarría on VAR.

Source: SuperDepor.com

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