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Game: Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León vs. Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V.
Date: Saturday, February 2nd
Time: 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 12:00 a.m. UTC
Venue: Estadio Universitario (San Nicolás de la Garza, Nuevo León)
Referees: REF: Erick Yair Miranda Galindo, AR1: Pablo Israel Hernández Luna, AR2: Jose de Jesus Baños Caballero, 4TH: Oscar Mejia Garcia
Television: United States - ESPN Deportes; Mexico - Afizzionados
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling TV (Free trial + monthly subscription), ESPN Deportes+, ESPN+ (Free trial + monthly subscription)
All-time record: In Liga MX play, Tigres has won 25 to Santos’ 22. The clubs have drawn 30 times.
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Two evenly matched teams will meet at the historic El Volcán as Tigres UANL (2W 1D 1L) hosts Santos Laguna (2W 1D 1L). Tigres has been inconsistent, having soundly defeated Tijuana (1W 0D 3L), snatching a draw from the jaws of victory against León (1W 2D 1L), and conceding a penalty in a 1-0 loss to Cruz Azul (2W 1D 1L).
A closer look though sees some similarities amidst the chaos. Tigres hasn’t done well against teams that can sit back and absorb their attacks. Pedro Caixinha’s Cruz Azul did that perfectly, and Xolos did as well in the first half only to fall apart after scoring an own goal and trying to push men forward to equalize.
Tigres recently brought Carlos Salcedo in from Eintracht Frankfurt, and if they can get the offense back on the same track they were on against Xolos they should be considered one of the most dangerous teams in Liga MX.
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Santos on the other hand looks like a team that is finally getting their legs back under them after the winter break. Santos has shown marked improvement in every game, and recently picked up Marlos Moreno from Manchester City to play either out on the left wing as an upgrade on Brian Lozano or to compliment Julio Furch up top. Moreno will face fierce competition no matter where he will play. Lozano has been a solid option on the left, pairing well with Jesús Angulo, and both Ayrton Preciado and Javier Correa have shown flashes of brilliance alongside the stalwart Furch.
When Santos is playing to their capability, they’re one of the toughest teams in the league to beat. They’ll have to adapt to Tuca Ferretti’s pressure offensively and defensively, however if they can maintain their composure and be patient, they could take points back to Torreón with them.