River Plate
- The clash of styles in this Sunday’s sold-out Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes final could not be more intriguing or interesting with Eduardo ‘Chacho’ Coudet’s free-flowing, possession-based attacking style facing off against Ricardo ‘El Ruso’ Zielinski’s compact, disciplined teams that are built to play and punish.
- River Plate are favourites to take the Apertura 2026 title, but only just with their odds of 1.96 a little short for a team that finished with around 29 points from 16 matches - finishing in the top four.
-
River have won three straight knockout matches (against Rosario Central, Gimnasia and San Lorenzo) to reach the final.
- Rosario Central
- Gimnasia
- San Lorenzo
Belgrano
- Belgrano have taken about 26 points from their 16 matches - usually finishing between seventh and ninth, but Zielinski’s tactical prowess and ability to get his teams ready for the big games has taken them to the brink of an incredible triumph.
-
Belgrano have reached the final after three straight upsets, beating Talleres, Unión and Argentinos, the latter on penalties.
- Talleres
- Unión
- Argentinos (on penalties)
Head-to-Head
- River Plate won the last two H2H matches 3-0 in 2026 and 2024.
- The Cordobeses stunned River with a 2-1 win in the 2023 Copa de la Liga and can do it again in the biggest game of their history as they seek a first top-flight title.
Key Players
- He employs a high-press that is based around top-scorer Sebastián Driussi, who will miss the game with a knee injury after the semifinal.
- Similarly, River’s midfield engine Aníbal Moreno is unavailable, while key right-back and set-piece specialist Gonzalo Montiel is out with a muscle injury.
- Nicolás ‘Uvita’ Fernández has been their clutch scorer, netting an injury-time equalizer to take the semifinal to penalties, where Belgrano goalie Thiago Cardozo saved the decisive penalty.
Betting Insights
- River Plate are favourites to take the Apertura 2026 title, but only just with their odds of 1.96 a little short for a team that finished with around 29 points from 16 matches - finishing in the top four.
- We cannot see any reason why they cannot go all the way with a draw and a shootout decider at 3.18, our main pick.
Prediction
River will probably win the overall match with their squad depth, but after three successive knockout wins to make it this far, we cannot see any reason why they cannot go all the way with a draw and a shootout decider at 3.18 , our main pick.
