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Liga MX: Lozano and Santos Laguna attempt to hold off Leon

By Garett Kerber

TIJUANA, MEXICO - AUGUST 22: Brian Lozano of Santos celebrates after the first goal of his team during the 6th round match between Tijuana and Santos Laguna as part of the Torneo Apertura 2018 Liga MX at Caliente Stadium on August 22, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. (Photo by Jam Media/Getty Images)
TIJUANA, MEXICO - AUGUST 22: Brian Lozano of Santos celebrates after the first goal of his team during the 6th round match between Tijuana and Santos Laguna as part of the Torneo Apertura 2018 Liga MX at Caliente Stadium on August 22, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. (Photo by Jam Media/Getty Images) /
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Santos Laguna and Leon face off on Sunday afternoon. The Liga MX champions will like their chances at home.

Coming into the match, Leon sits 11th in the Liga MX table with 10 points, while Santos is in the 5th position behind Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Club America and Pumas with 14 points.

Predicted XI:

Leon: 4-2-3-1

Cota
Navarro – Mosquera – Tesillo – Cornejo
Mejia – Rodriguez
Cerato – Montes – Moreno
Boselli

Leon will be without Pedro Aquino, who will serve a red card suspension from his efforts against Pumas last match. Otherwise, the lineup will be largely unchanged from the one that beat Toluca and America. I’d expect Alexander Mejia to try to replace Aquino, but the midfielder will have big boots to fill.

Santos: 4-4-2

Orozco
Abella – Nervo – Angulo – Doria
Isijara – Martinez – Vazquez – Lozano
Rodriguez – Furch

Santos will roll out their typical 4-4-2 at full strength. Gerardo Arteaga, Jose Abella, and Jesus Angulo will all be available, I would assume, after a couple more days of rest from the last match of international duty. I would love to see Deinner Quinones get significant play in this match, as I feel he has some great potential. Arteaga could play a big roll, as well, after a good showing for El Tri against the USA.

Key Players:

Leon:

Mauro Boselli. Who else? Santos have conceded just 3 goals at home this season and Leon has scored just 3 on the road. The 33-year-old will need to come out of the starting blocks quick and try to strike quickly to put a little pressure on Los Guerreros. His battle against the fairly youthful back four of Santos will be one to watch closely, at least in the early goings.

Santos:

Brian Lozano. I originally had Jonathan Rodriguez as the key player for this match, and I still think Jona could have a good match. However, Lozano seems to be due. The 24-year-old Uruguayan has been good all year behind Julio Furch, and with Pedro Aquino unavailable, Lozano could find it a bit easier to operate and dominate in the midfield.

Closing Thoughts:

The international break should have provided some rest to most of the key players on both sides of the pitch. Hopefully that will equate to a back and forth affair that provide excitement and entertainment to everyone who tunes in. Leon started the season struggling but have seemed to find what works for them, as of late. The absence of Pedro Aquino is really going to be an interesting wrinkle to this matchup. Lozano, Rodriguez, and Furch could find themselves with extra opportunities without the defensive midfielder, but, then again perhaps Leon’s 4-2-3-1 formation is set up well to handle the loss of one of the normal DMs.

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In any case, this matchup is one that Santos and Leon fans should all be glued to. It represents a measuring stick for Leon to see how far they’ve come, and could provide Santos with the confidence that they can beat the teams they are “supposed” to.

After Leon, Santos will have matches against Veracruz, Necaxa, and Atlas coming up. There ought not to be any reason to be looking past Leon.

As I predicted in the VLMX predictions for the week, I see this match ending with Santos triumphing 2-1.

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