South American Cup Preview: Corinthians Aims to Seize the Initiative at Home, Racing Hopes to End Away Losing Streak

At 8:30 AM on October 25, in the first leg of the South American Cup semifinals, Brazilian team Corinthians will host Argentine team Racing. Corinthians has remained unbeaten in their last 7 home matches, while Racing has just suffered a 4-match away losing streak. Given this context, the prospects for Corinthians to seize the initiative in the first leg of the semifinals are clearly more optimistic.

Both Corinthians and Racing have had similar journeys to reach the South American Cup semifinals and have demonstrated strong offensive capabilities. During the group stage, Corinthians secured the top spot with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss, advancing directly to the round of 16. Racing also topped their group with 5 wins and 1 loss. Notably, both teams scored 14 goals during the group stage, but Corinthians conceded only 2 goals, making them the team with the fewest goals conceded in the group stage.

In the knockout stages, Racing swept Vélez Sársfield in the round of 16, scoring 8 goals in the process. In contrast, Corinthians narrowly advanced past Red Bull Bragantino through a penalty shootout. In the quarterfinals, Corinthians swept Fortaleza with a total score of 5-0, while Racing “lost first and then won,” eliminating Athletico Paranaense with a total score of 4-2.

In the first leg of the semifinals, Corinthians will be playing at home. It is worth noting that Corinthians has remained unbeaten in their last 7 home matches, recording results of 2-1 against Flamengo (Brazilian Serie A), 3-1 against Juventude (Brazilian Cup), 3-0 against Goiás (Brazilian Serie A), 3-0 against Fortaleza (South American Cup), 2-2 against Internacional (Brazilian Serie A), 5-2 against Athletico Paranaense (Brazilian Serie A), and 0-0 against Flamengo (Brazilian Cup), resulting in 5 wins and 2 draws. In this edition of the South American Cup, Corinthians forward Yuri Alberto has performed exceptionally well, scoring 7 goals and providing 2 assists in 8 appearances, 7 of which were as a starter. Besides Alberto, Romero and Coronado have also shown good form in attack.

Racing’s recent away performances have been very poor, suffering 4 consecutive away losses. Their last 4 away matches ended with 0-1 losses to Atlético Tucumán (Argentine Primera División), 0-1 to Athletico Paranaense (South American Cup), 0-2 to Talleres (Argentine Primera División), and 0-1 to San Lorenzo (Argentine Primera División), failing to score a single goal during this period. Racing’s forward Adrián Martínez currently leads the South American Cup scoring chart with 9 goals. Whether Adrián Martínez can score is crucial for Racing. It is noteworthy that in the 15 games where Adrián Martínez has scored for Racing, Racing has maintained a perfect record. In terms of head-to-head records, all 4 recent encounters between the two teams have ended in draws.

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