River targeting comeback at El Monumental
River Plate trail 1-0 at the halfway stage of their all-Argentinian last-16 Copa Libertadores tie against Velez Sarsfield, with the two Buenos Aires rivals set for another tight clash at El Monumental. Neither side has made a sparkling start to their Primera Division campaign, and that could add to the tension on Thursday.

The hosts have collected eight points from their first six league games, but have found things much easier in the Libertadores, where they won five of their six group games, scoring 18 goals (14 at home) and conceding just three. Their superb home record in South America’s elite continental competition will give them hope of at least levelling this tie, though they will face a tough travelling rearguard.

Indeed, Velez have seen seven consecutive games feature under 2.5 goals, clinging on for a first-leg win over River after having just 38 per cent possession and two shots on target. Low-scoring affairs have been common between these two teams in recent years, with 11 of their last 14 meetings seeing a maximum of two goals, and Alexander Medina’s men will hope for more of the same here.

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译文(自动翻译仅供参考):

雷弗的目标是在纪念公园复出
在阿根廷16强解放者杯对阵萨斯菲尔德的比赛中，河床队以1比0落后，这两支布宜诺斯艾利斯的劲敌将在纪念碑球场再次交锋。双方都没有在他们的Primera赛区取得一个闪亮的开始，这可能会增加周四的紧张局势。

东道主在前六场联赛中拿到了8分，但在解放者队的比赛中，情况要容易得多，他们在小组赛的六场比赛中赢了五场，进了18球(其中14球在主场)，只丢了3球。他们在南美大陆精英联赛的主场优异战绩给了他们至少扳平这场比赛的希望，尽管他们将面对一个强硬的后卫。

事实上，贝莱斯已经连续7场比赛进球低于2.5个，在首回合对阵河床的比赛中，他的控球率仅为38%，并两次射正。近年来，这两支球队经常出现进球过低的情况，在过去的14次交锋中，有11次最多进了两个球，亚历山大·梅迪纳的球队希望在这里能有更多这样的情况。

2-0FT