Match preview: Tijuana vs. Veracruz

Game: Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente vs. Club Deportivo Veracruz

Date: Friday, October 25th

Time: 10:06 p.m. Eastern, 9:06 p.m. Central, 7:06 p.m. Pacific, 2:06 a.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Caliente (Tijuana, B.C.)

Referees: REF: José Alfredo Peñaloza Soto, AR1: Jose Ibrahim Martinez Chavarria, AR2: Juan Carlos Salinas Salinas, 4TH: Erick Yair Miranda Galindo

Radio: 98.9 FM (Tijuana/San Diego), 106.7 FM (Calexico/Mexicali)

Television: United States - Fox Sports 2, ESPN Deportes, Fox 5 San Diego; Mexico - Fox Sports 2 Cono Norte

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling TV (Free trial + monthly subscription), ESPN+, Fanatiz (Check service for available regions), FOX Sports GO, MOREFM Online.com (Audio only) Listings for effectively every game in every country can be found here.

All-time record: Tijuana holds the all time record across all competitions winning eight to Veracruz’ six, with the clubs drawing four times. Veracruz holds the edge in Liga MX play, winning five to Tijuana’s four with three draws. When the teams were both in the Ascenso MX, Xolos held the commanding lead winning four to Tiburones Rojos’ one with one draw. The last time the teams met, Xolos defeated Veracruz 3-0 in Tijuana back on February 15th. Xolos got goals from Gustavo Bou, Miller Bolaños, and Daniel López.

Photo by Fausto Vargas/Jam Media/Getty Images

Tijuana () comes back to Baja California after suffering one of its worst defeats in recent memory, falling 4-1 to a tough Santos Laguna () on the road in Torreón. It was always going to be a tough ask for Xolos, going to the fortress that is Estadio Corona TSM while missing Camilo Sanvezzo, Ariel Nahuelpán, and Kevin Balanta due to red cards picked up in the previous match against Atlas ().

Xolos have been great at home, winning three, drawing three, and not losing once. They have been largely able to put it all together and play attactive soccer, however they can be shaky on defense. Their 27 goals conceded is next to last in the league, with Veracruz’ 34 being the worst.

Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images

The good news is that Tijuana will have a full squad at the Mictlán to face off against a team whose last victory was on August 25, 2018. The bad news is that Veracruz’ last win was against Tijuana, a fact Xolos fans are reminded of almost every time Veracruz’ historic streak is talked about.

Veracruz has some talent, with goalkeeper Sebastián Jurado showing promise and being called to the Mexican National Team despite never having won a Liga MX game. Forward Colin Kazim-Richards has shown flashes of briliance but has been injured most of the season, returning for last week’s match against Tigres.

Xolos need to do a professional job to beat Veracruz. While Veracruz have been both bad and unlucky, all it will take will be to strike lucky just once for some team to be “the one that Veracruz beat to end the streak.”