2019 Apertura match preview: Tijuana vs. Querétaro

Game: Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente vs. Querétaro Fútbol Club

Date: Saturday, July 27th

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: Adonai Escobedo González, AR1: Pablo Israel Hernández Luna, AR2: Jorge Antonio Sánchez Espinoza, 4TH: Abraham de Jesús Quirarte Contreras

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

Television: United States - FOX Deportes Network, Fox 5 San Diego (KSWB-TV); Mexico - Fox Sports 2 Cono Norte

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling TV (Free trial + monthly subscription), FOX Sports GO, MOREFM Online.com (Audio only)

All-time record: In the all-time series (including the previous iterations of Querétaro) which dates back to the days when both clubs were in the Ascenso MX, Los Gallos Blancos hold a slight edge. Querétaro has won nine to Tijuana’s eight with the clubs drawing three times. The clubs are deadlocked in Liga MX play, with each winning seven and the clubs drawing twice. The last time the clubs met, Querétaro beat Xolos 1-0 at Estadio La Corregidora back on March 30. The last meeting at Estadio Caliente ended in a 1-1 draw on October 6.

Photo by Gonzalo Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images

After a solid 3-1 win over Puebla last week, Tijuana (1W 0D 0L) returns home to Estadio Caliente to host Quéretaro (1W 0D 0L). Xolos were overcame a bit of a slow start and conceding a goal by scoring three unanswered goals and looked like a more complete side. Xolos also had a midweek match in Los Angeles against the LA Galaxy, a match they lost in penalties.

In both matches, new signing Camilo Sanvezzo played well but failed to score a goal in his 141 total minutes. Sanvezzo has meshed well with Xolos forward corps, which has seen strong starts from Ariel Nahuelpán and newcomer Washington Camacho. Sanvezzo will have some extra motivation this week as the Brazilian forward will be going up against his previous team, where he played for five years before moving to Tijuana this offseason.

Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images

Another player that moved during the offseason was Fabián Castillo, who left Xolos and went to Querétaro. Castillo was reunited with former coach Óscar Pareja while in Tijuana, but the reunion only resulted in Castillo playing in 11 games with a lone goal against Toluca in Week 5 to show for it.

Castillo came on for Clifford Aboagye in the 66th minute, scoring the first goal in Querétaro’s 2-0 win against Toluca. It remains to be seen if Castillo’s play has worked him into Víctor Manuel Vucetich’s starting eleven.

As always in Liga MX, the storylines will add a bit of spice to the match. That said, the storylines doesn’t mean this be easy for either team. The players in last week’s starting eleven for Querétaro have largely struggled with consistency and could be overmatched when it comes to facing a Tijuana side that looks to improve on last season’s eighth place finish. Tijuana needs to prove they can be consistent at a team level by putting away a Gallos Blancos side that despite their win last week looks beatable.