Liga MX: Can Tijuana halt Morelia’s assault on the playoffs?
Xolos stand in the way of Morelia’s Liga MX playoff aspirations.
Just two match days remain in the regular season with everything still to play for as only two teams, Club América and Cruz Azul, have confirmed their place in La Liguilla so far. To use the old cliché, every game is a final for many of the remaining teams in the league; especially those sitting between 7th and 11th in the Liga MX table who all could realistically make the playoffs.
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However, after a disappointing Matchday 15, Club Tijuana are now facing a season without making an appearance in the postseason. This will come as a huge disappointment for Xolos who managed a semi-final finish last season after coming in 6th place in the league.
On the other hand, everything is left to play for in Morelia as Monarcas currently sit 9th in the table, level on points with 8th place Pachuca and a single point off Tigres in 7th. The added incentive comes as Tigres play 11th place Puebla who also could make a late challenge for the top 8.
This Saturday will see the two sides go head to head in Tijuana in a match-up that will surely favour the visitors. On the back of a 0 – 2 defeat at home to Tigres, Monarcas will be throwing everything they’ve got at Xolos to take home all three points. Despite letting in quite a few goals throughout the season, Monarcas will take comfort in the fact that Xolos have the second-worst goal scoring record in the league, only scoring once more than 17th place Atlas. Expect to see a very aggressive play style from them this weekend!
From home fans’ point of view, this game will mostly be about keeping their head above water and keeping within touching distance of rivals León who’re currently in 13th position. But, with little other than pride on the line, it would be nice to see some experimentation within the squad and perhaps a different approach to the formation than the 4-4-2 which hasn’t been working out for them thus far.
However, I do think it’s unlikely that we’ll see much rotation and that we’ll see another 4-4-2 vs 4-4-2 match-up which has proved to be Xolos’ Achilles heel all season. I’m predicting a fairly comprehensive victory for the away side, Club Tijuana 1 – 3 Monarcas Morelia.