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River Plate will welcome Colon to Estadio Monumental for their opening league fixture of the new Argentine Primera division season on Sunday.
The hosts come into the game on the back of a 1-1 draw with fellow Argentine side Argentinos Juniors in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores round-of-16 tie on Thursday. Matias Suarez and Gabriel Huache scored first-half goals to leave it all to play for in the return leg.
Colon have not been in action since picking up a 3-0 victory over Racing Club to win the second edition of the Copa de la Liga Profesional at the start of June.
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River Plate will be looking to build on from their second-place finish in the abridged league last season. Colon ended the campaign in 23rd place but avoided relegation, owing to the league's decision to prematurely end the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
River Plate vs Colon Head-to-Head
River Plate have 16 wins from their last 34 games against the Santa Fe outfit. Colon were victorious on seven occasions while 11 previous games ended in a share of the spoils.
Their most recent meeting came in April when Lucas Beltrian, Fabrizio Angileri and Gabriel Montiel all got on the scoresheet to help River Plate pick up a 3-2 victory.
River Plate form guide: D-L-W-L-D
Colon form guide: W-W-W-D-W
River Plate vs Colon Team News
River Plate
Forward Lucas Pratto was on loan at Dutch side Feyenoord when he broke his foot in early May in a league game against Ajax. He has since returned to River but is expected to be on the sidelines for some more months and will not feature in this match. There are no suspension concerns for coach Marcelo Gallardo.
Injury: Lucas Pratto
Suspension: None
Colon
There are no suspensions or injury concerns for the visitors.
Injuries: None
Suspension: None
River Plate vs Colon Predicted XI
River Plate Predicted XI (4-3-3): Franco Armani (GK); Milton Casco, Hector Martinez, Diaz Huincales, Gabriel Montiel; Agustin Palavecino, Enzo Perez, Diego De La Cruz; Matias Suarez, Braian Romero, Julian Alvarez
Colon Predicted XI (4-3-3): Leonardo Burian (GK); Gonzalo Escobar, Gonzalo Piovi, Facundo Garces, Facundo Mura; Rodrigo Aliendro, Federico Lertora, Alexis Castro; Christian Bernardi, Luis Rodriguez, Cristian Ferreira
River Plate vs Colon Prediction
River Plate have several players who starred in the just-concluded Copa America, and this, coupled with their exertions on the continent, could lead to fatigue in the players.
The home side could also have one eye on the return leg of their Libertadores fixture next week. Nevertheless, Gallardo's side should do enough to nick a narrow victory.
Prediction: River Plate 1-0 Colon
