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Pumas will try to give their fans some hope for the future when they face a Xolos team that is right in the middle of a fight for the Liguilla. After losing badly to Tigres, Pumas’ season seems to be over, with only a miracle giving them a pas to the Liguilla. Still, at home they should fight for the chance however remote, especially against a team that despite being in the running for the Liguilla, most of their success has been based on home results. Tijuana have been great at home but their away results have recently been awful, including two bad defeats at Pachuca and America.
Pumas’ season was basically finished last week. Not only did their consolation prize come tumbling down when they lost the Copa MX Semifinal against FC Juarez, but a couple of days later they lost badly to Tigres, which meant the all but kissed goodbye to the Liguilla and their Liga MX season. To make matters worse, after a conflict with a FC Juarez fan, coach Bruno Marioni will face a two-game suspension. Still, there is some positive for this game. Even with their bad record this season, Pumas was almost undefeated at home. Their only loss in Liga MX at home was against Leon, the red hot team who currently sits with a 10 game winning streak. They got past others, including a tie with Monterrey and of course their best result of the season, a 1-0 win against rival America.
On the other side of the coin lies Xolos of Tijuana. Based on great home performances, Xolos is right on track to qualify for the Liguilla. They will arrive against Pumas after a great result over America in Tijuana that has them right in it. That said, while they had some early success (including an away win at Leon right before they became the top team in Mexico) their recent away form has been disastrous. They are in the middle of a three-game away losing streak, with two of them being bad 4-0 losses. It started with a 4-0 loss at Pachuca and continued with another 1-0 loss against bottom level Queretaro. Their last away loss was in the Copa MX, but it was also a bad 4-0 loss against America. Although it paid off with a Liga MX win against the same rival, Xolos looked awful in that Copa MX semifinal in Mexico City and they were lucky to only lose by 4.
Beyond that however, Xolos is right now in the thick of things and they can bounce back against a Pumas team playing only for their fans and their pride. Yet they will be going into one of the toughest venues, something you really don’t want to face if you’re in the middle of an “away slump”. A prediction is up in the air for most experts as both teams situations might be able to neutralize the advantages of their rivals. It should be a treat for most fans to watch who comes up top on Sunday afternoon.
Date: Sunday, April 14
Time: 10:00am Pacific, 12:00pm Central, 01:00pm Eastern
Venue: Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México, México
TV: Univision Deportes (US-Español), ESPN Deportes (US-Español), Univision (US-Español), UnivisionTDN (Mexico)
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), WatchESPN
Listings via LiveSoccerTV.com