Few Xolos fans will want to remember the last time Tijuana made the away trip down to Leon. The previous meeting in Guanajuato, on November 23rd of
Few Xolos fans will want to remember the last time Tijuana made the away trip down to Leon.
The previous meeting in Guanajuato, on November 23rd of last year, ended with an agonizing 3-0 loss to Xolos in the first leg of the Liguilla quarterfinals. Although Tijuana was able to bounce back at home a few days later with a 3-2 win, the scoreline was not enough to make up for the damage in the away leg against the Panzas Verdes.
Now, a little over two months after being knocked out of the playoffs by their fierce rivals, Xolos will have an opportunity to get their revenge on Saturday night. Manager Miguel Herrera will surely be motivated after that quarterfinal clash, and with three league victories in a row under his belt, it might be foolish to bet against his roster.
However, after a poor start to the Clausura, Leon manager Javier Torrente will be eager to get his first win at home this season. With names like Mauro Boselli, Fernando Navarro and Luis Montes in his squad, Tijuana might have a tough time securing points this weekend.
Don’t let the team’s current spot at 14th place fool you, Leon has the firepower to sneak in a goal or two past Xolos goalkeeper Gibran Lajud. With his excellent finishing and strength up front, Boselli will easily be the player to keep an eye on. Others like Elias Hernandez, Carlos Pena and Montes also have the talents to be game-changers this Saturday.
As for Tijuana, it’s difficult to not feel as if Herrera has been lucky with his two previous victories. Backed by a few good individual performances on the pitch, Xolos have stumbled through the past couple of weeks in the Clausura with narrow 1-0 wins.
Looking ahead to this weekend, it will be interesting to see if Herrera decides to continue his trend of sitting back and frustrating the opposition. Although this wouldn’t be a bad approach towards a difficult rival in an away match, it might not work against another complicated opponent with noteworthy attackers.
Here’s what the manager and one of the members of his roster recently had to say about the upcoming match.
“We will need to do everything necessary to win Saturday,” stated Aguilera during a press conference on Thursday morning. “We need to be smarter. Last time it was the first post-season experience for many of us. Now, we need to revert the errors and have a good result.”
“It’s a tough rival,” said Herrera. “But we are going in with the idea to get those three points.”
Xolos player to watch: Gibran Lajud
The 23-year-old goalkeeper is one of the main reasons why Tijuana has been able to walk away with narrow wins recently. Thanks to his 11 saves in his last two matches, Xolos have not allowed a goal since Week 2 of the Clausura.
Predicted score: Leon 1-1 Tijuana
Predicted starting XI for Xolos:
