Match preview: Club Atlas vs. Club Tijuana

Game: Atlas Fútbol Club vs. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente

Date: Friday, October 20th

Time: 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 9:00 p.m. Central, 7:00 p.m. Pacific, 2:00 a.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Jalisco (Guadalajara, Jal.)

Television: United States - Univision Deportes; Mexico - Azteca 13, ESPN DOS

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling (Free trial + monthly subscription)

Club Tijuana (5W 3D 5L) continue their three game road trip (four if you count a Copa MX match in Morelia against Monarcas) in Guadalajara against Atlas (5W 1D 6L), with both teams desperately seeking points to remain in the Liguilla hunt. Xolos are coming off of a solid 2-1 win against Lobos BUAP (4W 2D 7L) in a match that was delayed for an hour due to the lights in the Estadio Universitario BUAP not coming on. Gustavo Bou was able to break a 292 minute goalless streak for Xolos, and Miller Bolaños goal in the 39th proved to be the match winner.

Also notable in the win was an improvement in overall club discipline for Tijuana. The club committed less fouls (16) than they had in the previous match against Veracruz (23) and only picked up two yellow cards - down from five against Tiburones Rojos. When Xolos can focus on playing their game and cutting down on the fouls, they can play with anyone in Liga MX.

Atlas is a talented squad but hasn’t been able to put it together on a consistent basis. They come into the match against Xolos after seeing a three game win streak end at home against Monarcas Morelia (6W 4D 3L). Morelia scored on a goal by Carlos Guzmán in the third minute, and Atlas was simply unable to mount much offensive pressure with just three shots on goal.

Atlas will look to start to get production from Ravel Morrison, the 24 year old midfielder on loan from Lazio in Serie A. Morrison has just three games under his belt in Liga MX, and it’s still unclear if he’ll be able to handle the frenetic pace of the Mexican game. Matías Alustiza is the club’s leading goalscorer with five on the season, while ex-Xolo Milton Caraglio has three - including a brace against Veracruz back on September 29.