Match preview: Club Tijuana vs. Pumas

Game: Club de Futbol Universidad Nacional AC vs. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente

Date: Sunday, September 10th

Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 p.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Pacific, 5:00 p.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Olímpico Universitario (Coyoacán, Mexico City, D.F.)

Television: United States - Univision, Univision Deportes; Mexico - Canal de las Estrellas, UnivisionTDN

Streaming: fuboTV, Univision NOW

After getting off to a slow start, Tijuana (3W 1D 3L) reeled off three straight wins in Liga MX play prior to the international break. Eduardo Coudet’s team has been able to gel, with Gustavo Bou finding his scoring touch while allowing only two goals in the past three matches. Xolos have also had another week to train with Juan Iturbe and get him up to speed, and the club also went out and acquired Miller Bolaños on loan from Grêmio to bolster the attack.

They’ll head to the CU to face Pumas (2W 0D 5L), who look adrift after losing three straight and firing manager Francisco “Paco” Palencia. Pumas has the talent to be dangerous, as Chilean forward Nicolás Castillo is second in the league with five goals on the season, and with a supporting cast of Joffre Guerrón and Bryan Rabello, Pumas should be putting the ball into the net at a better rate than just 1.29 times a game.

This could be a bit of a test for Xolos, who will find that a rainy afternoon at altitude in the CU is much different than the quick artificial turf at Estadio Caliente. They’ll need to adjust quickly and not allow Pumas to dictate the flow of the game. Pumas’ defense hasn’t been bad this season, but they’ll need to put forth their best effort to keep Tijuana off of the board.