Racing Club square off against Argentine rivals Boca Juniors in the Copa Libertadores on Thursday looking to build on their 1-0 advantage from the first leg.

Whoever prevails from this quarter-final tie will set up a last-four showdown with Brazilian outfit Santos.

Match preview

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Having recorded penalty-shootout wins over Brazilian pair Flamengo and Internacional, Boca and Racing Club were able to look forward to a highly-anticipated showdown in the last eight.

Only three of the six Argentine representatives made it through to the knockout stages, but the country is guaranteed two teams in the semi-finals with River Plate already getting the better of Nacional.

Courtesy of Lorenzo Melgarejo's second-half winner in the reverse fixture, Racing Club hold a slender advantage in the tie, and Sebastian Beccacece will be confident that his squad can continue deeper into the competition.

However, last week's victory at Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Peron is their only win from their last four contests, while it has been six games since they recorded an away win.

The goals have been shared around this group of players with their last seven strikes, spread across 11 matches, all coming from different members of the squad.

While Racing Club's sole victory in this competition came in 1967, Boca have not lifted this trophy since winning the tournament for the sixth time in 2007.

As Argentine champions, Miguel Angel Russo will believe that another success is just around the corner, but the Azul y Oro have been below par in recent weeks.

They have only prevailed in two of their last half a dozen games, although they deserve credit for conceding just three goals during that run of encounters.

Boca head into this game after a brilliant win away at Independiente at the weekend, scoring two goals during the final seven minutes to prevail at Estadio Libertadores de America.

Boca Juniors Copa Libertadores form: WDWWLL
Boca Juniors form (all competitions): WDLDLW

Racing Club Copa Libertadores form: WWWDDW
Racing Club form (all competitions): WDLLWD

Team News

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Having made mass changes at the weekend, Boca manager Russo must decide whether to mix and match from the last two games after his second-string defeated Independiente.

Edwin Cardona is a certain starter after contributing a goal and an assist at the weekend, while Carlos Tevez will be recalled after remaining as an unused substitute.

Beccacece also took an opportunity to rest many of his key players at the weekend, a move which resulted in a 1-1 draw being recorded at Estudiantes.

Racing Club should line up with a similar team to the one which started the first leg with veteran forward Lisandro Lopez leading the line.

Boca Juniors possible starting lineup:
Andrada; Jara, Lopez, Izquierodoz, Fabra; Salvio, Capaldo, Campuzano, Villa; Tevez, Cardona

Racing Club possible starting lineup:
Arias; Sigali, Dominguez, Soto; Dominguez, Miranda, Rojas, Mena; Melgarejo, Lopez, Fertoli

We say: Boca Juniors 3-1 Racing Club

This tie is finely poised, something which plays into the hands of Racing Club as they bid to avoid defeat. However, despite their recent inconsistencies, we are backing the home side to overturn the first-leg deficit with a strong performance on familiar territory.

Top betting tip

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