Match preview: Monarcas Morelia vs. Club Tijuana

Game: Club Atlético Monarcas Morelia vs. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente

Date: Friday, September 29th

Time: 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 12:00 a.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Morelos (Morelia, Mich.)

Television: United States - Univision Deportes

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription)

Club Tijuana (4W 2D 4L) will play their second match in four days when they head to Michocan to face Monarcas Morelia (3W 4D 3L) tonight. Tijuana played a good game against Tigres UANL on Tuesday, but lost 1-0 to Tuca Ferretti’s men. Morelia was beaten 2-1 in Veracruz to Tiburones Rojos. Xolos and Monarcas will be looking to pick up three critical points, as both teams currently sit outside of the top eight and a Liguilla berth.

The silver lining for Xolos is that Damián Musto will be rested and available, missing the last match after picking up two yellow cards against Club América. While Eduardo Coudet’s team has evolved somewhat throughout the season, I wouldn’t expect many changes from the lineup that was run out against Tigres. The back six should remain pretty static, however Juan Iturbe was largely ineffectual against Tigres and could be swapped out for either Joe Corona for a more compact central midfield or Luis “Quick” Mendoza to stretch the midfield wide and provide some speed against what is sure to be a tired Morelia side.

Monarcas sits one point lower than Tijuana in the table and prior to their defeat at the hands of Veracruz on Tuesday hadn’t lost in four straight Liga MX matches, defeating América 2-0 and drawing Tigres 3-3. After starting slowly, Peruvian striker Raúl Ruidíaz has scored seven goals in the past six games - however two of those have been from the penalty spot. Ruidíaz is one of only five goalscorers for Morelia, and has scored more than the other four players combined.

Monarcas will be without captain Gabriel Achilier, who was sent off against Tiburones when his attempt to clear a ball missed and he instead struck Daniel “Keko” Villalba.

Enrique Pérez will most likely start in place of Achilier on the Monarcas back line, which has conceded 13 goals so far this season.