:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58314205/902618546.jpg.0.jpg)
Game: Club América vs. Pachuca
Date: Saturday, January 13
Time: 6:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 PM Central, 3 PM Pacific, 11 PM UTC
Venue: Estadio Azteca (Mexico City)
Television: United States - ESPN Deportes, Univision; Mexico - TDN, Canal 5 Televisa
Streaming: ESPN 3, WatchESPN, Univision Deportes app, fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling (Free trial + monthly subscription)
Club América came into the 2018 Clausura season with quite a deal of excitement surrounding the squad. The signings of French striker Jérémy Ménez and Colombian winger Andrés Ibargüen just hours before their first match of the season against Querétaro led to both fans and pundits alike declaring las Águilas an instant favorite to compete with star studded Tigres and Monterrey for the Clausura 2018 title.
In their first match of the season, just hours after the announcement of their new star players, las Águilas managed to secure a hard fought 1-0 victory over Querétaro thanks to an absolute GOLAZO by young Mexican Striker Henry Martin. The victory was Club América’s first at Estadio Corregidora in all competitions since 2012.
Puchuca opened their season at home against Pumas UNAM and looked like they were going to cruise to victory after scoring two goals early on in the match. However, much to the dismay of the home fans at Estadio Hidalgo, Pumas managed to come from behind and win the match 3-2. Nicolás Castillo scored two of Pumas’ goals and absolutely shredded the Tuzos defense. Goalkeeper Alfonso Blanco had an absolutely awful game that included bad positioning and cheaply giving away a goal off of a rebound that went straight into the path of an attacking player.
Club América will be eager to show their home fans that the new and improved team is ready to challenge the likes of Tigres and Monterrey for the title this Saturday evening. Expect Miguel Herrera’s side to come out looking to exploit the fragile Pachuca defense in a similar way that Pumas managed to do in the second half. Pachuca on the other hand will be looking to avoid loosing their second consecutive match of the season. Given how poorly their defense performed in the last match, expect Óscar ‘Conejo’ Pérez to start in goal to provide los Tuzos with more stability.
If las Águilas can avoid falling behind early to the talented young Tuzos squad, they should have absolutely no excuse for failing to take all three points from the match.