Liga MX: Santos hopes to avoid a trap
After an impressive performance against Leon in Jornada 9, Santos hosts 16th place Veracruz in their 10th match.
Santos is fresh off a 3-0 drubbing of Leon at Estadio Corona on Sunday, September 16 and are now looking at a matchup with the lowly club from Veracruz. Los Guerreros have to be thrilled with their season so far, sitting 4th in the Liga MX table. Veracruz continues to struggle, so Santos Laguna has a chance to move up in the table, especially with Pumas facing off against a tough Monarcas Morelia team.
Last Match
Santos: W vs. Leon 3-0
Santos came out swinging against Leon. Jonathan Rodriguez scored in the 37th minute. Julio Furch would then add his 6th and 7th goals of this Apertura to put the game well out of reach. Santos saw some success with a 4-3-3 formation instead of the 4-4-2 they’ve rolled out in prior matches. The insertion of Ayrton Preciado into the lineup helped put an extra jolt into the offense, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the same against Veracruz.
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Veracruz: L v Toluca 2-3
After going down 0-2 to Toluca by halftime, Diego Chavez and Adrian Luna scored goals before the 60′ mark to knot the match at 2. Two quick yellows at 80′ and 84′ to Luis Caicedo saw Vercaruz down to 10 men and a penalty conceded to Rubens Sambueza did Los Tiburones in, as they fell 2-3.
Predicted Lineups
Santos: 4-3-3
Orozco
Abella – Nervo – Angulo – Arteaga
Rivas- Vazquez – Lozano
Preciado – Furch – Rodriguez
Going out on a limb a little bit and predicting Salvador Reyes will try some other players against an opponent Santos should have no problems against. Rivas and Arteaga had decent showings off the bench last week, so I’d like to see them get in the starting XI to allow them some valuable experience. Meanwhile, what I love about this formation is the way it puts Jose Vazquez in a position to control the middle of the pitch. He did a great job against Leon and should further gain confidence and success there this week. Furch is the player of the year in Liga MX thus far, if he plays at all, it will be to make sure Veracruz doesn’t try to hang around too long.
Veracruz: 4-2-3-1
Gallese
Paganoni – Noya – Rivas – Mares
Cartagena – Martinez
Luna – Prieto – Chavez
Menendez
What is kind of nice is that, though I haven’t watched a ton of Veracruz this year, they are coming off of a match in which they didn’t play too terribly. Therefore, I’d expect them to come out with a similar lineup to the one that came close to a draw with Toluca. They’ll be without Luis Caicedo, due to the red card, but Noya played in Veracruz’s 1-0 win against Tijuana and faired well. Diego Chavez and Adrian Luna have been the primary threats, along with Cristian Menendez. However, for a side that has 8 goals in 9 matches, that is a low bar to clear.
Key Players
Santos: Because I don’t expect Furch to play a full 90, if at all, it’s going to fall to Ayrton Preciado to show his quality. In his 61 minutes against Leon, the 24-year-old Ecuadorian had an assist, 92% pass accuracy and was successful on 2 attempted dribbles. He’ll want to show that the performance is a preview of what he can do, rather than a blip on the radar.
Veracruz: Pedro Gallese will need to be at the top of his game. Santos will come at him early and often, and he’ll surely need to come up with a few huge saves to keep Veracruz close. He needs to be Man of the Match if Veracruz wants to stand a chance.
Prediction
As you might guess, I’m not expecting Santos to struggle much in this match. Liga MX is certainly known for its parity, but Santos looked too good and seem too focused to suffer a let down.
I’m predicting scores from Furch, Preciado, and Jesus Angulo.