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Match: CF Monterrey v Club Atlas
Date: November 24th, 2018
Time: 9:06 PM CDT, 10:06 PM EDT, 7:06 PM PDT
Venue: Estadio BBVA Bancomer, Monterrey, Mexico
Television: Fox Sports Cono Norte in Mexico, Fox Sports Deportes (Spanish) or Fox Sports 2 (English) in the United States
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling (Free trial + monthly subscription), Fox Sports Go in the US.
Check Livesoccertv for more information.
Los Rayados will be looking for nothing more than positioning for the Liguilla while Club Atlas will be playing for pride and points in the relegation table Saturday night.
Rayados suma 5 triunfos consecutivos frente al Atlas y en su casa ganó 5 de los últimos 7 partidos que disputó en #LIGABancomerMX. Atlas no ha podido ganar como visitante durante el #Apertura2018.
— LIGA Bancomer MX (@LIGABancomerMX) November 22, 2018
Los Rayados ocupan el 5to lugar de la #TablaGeneral y buscarán escalar posiciones. pic.twitter.com/0XFwfustq2
Monterrey are already guaranteed a spot in the Liguilla and are currently sitting in fifth place in the table with 27 points. The club will be looking to get a win and get as high as 3rd in the table before Sunday’s showdown between Santos Laguna and Pumas UNAM, the third and fourth placed teams in CDMX on Sunday, along with Deportivo Toluca, one of the teams that can catch Monterrey in the table.
The other team that can catch Monterrey in is their cross-town rivals, Tigres, and they play at Chivas, the other Guadalajara-based team in Liga MX, at the Estadio Akron at the same time as Monterrey will be facing off against Atlas.
Depending on how the results end up, Monterrey can climb as high as fourth place in the Liguilla standings with a win and a result that is not a draw between Pumas UNAM and Santos Laguna, as both teams have vastly superior goal difference over Monterrey.
However, if Monterrey loses or draws and both Tigres and Deportivo Toluca win, which are both outcomes that are very likely, Monterrey will fall to seventh place in the table. Club América are currently in second place in the table with 30 points, and a win against Veracruz, the worst team in the division, would guarantee them second place in the table. A draw or loss by América and a victory from one of UNAM Pumas or Santos Laguna would result in Las Águilas dropping to third place.
Monterrey need to win to guarantee a spot higher than 7th in the table, and while it should be a foregone conclusion with Club Atlas coming to town, that’s not guaranteed by any stretch. Monterrey, more than anything else, need to get healthy to prepare for a run in the Liguilla, and might be better served by playing the kids rather than risk injury to any key players.
If Diego Alonso sends out a full-strength team, then he’s worried about positioning and is hoping to get fourth place in the table and a match-up with either Santos Laguna or Pumas UNAM. To be honest, this match has draw written all over it, with Atlas looking to grab a point at the end of a season to forget, while Monterrey would rather save their strength for a run in the Liguilla. A loss by Monterrey, especially if the team is full of first-team regulars like Avilés Hurtado, Dorlan Pabón, Nico Sanchez, or Rodolfo Pizarro, then the team will limp into a Liguilla without any momentum after being one of the preseason favorites.
This team will be judged on its performance in the Liguilla, and so if Alonso and the rest of the team want to achieve any of their goals this season, the emphasis will be on the games ahead of this one.