Match preview: Gallos Blancos de Querétaro vs. Club Tijuana

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

Date: Sunday, November 8th

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

Venue: Estadio Corregidora (Querétaro , Qro.)

Referees: REF: Luis Enrique Santander Aguirre, AR1: Andres Hernández Delgado, AR2: Jose De Jesus Baños Caballero, 4TH: Erick Yair Miranda Galindo, VAR: Adonai Escobedo González, AVAR: Christian Adrián Ramírez Tejeda

Television: United States - TUDN; Mexico - Imagen Televisión, FOX Sports 2; Belize - FOX Sports 2; Costa Rica - FOX Sports 2; Dominican Republic - FOX Sports 2; El Salvador - FOX Sports 2; Guatemala - FOX Sports 2; Honduras - FOX Sports 2; Nicaragua - FOX Sports 2; Panama - FOX Sports 2; Venezuela - FOX Sports 2

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), TUDN En Vivo

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 as Querétaro has won nine to Tijuana’s eleven with the clubs drawing four times. Querétaro also leads in Liga MX play, winning eight to Xolos’ seven and the clubs drawing three times. Los Gallos won twice to Tijuana’s once with the teams drawing one when both were in the Ascenso MX, and the clubs each won once in their meetings in the 2019 Copa MX. The last time the clubs met, Querétaro beat Xolos 3-0 at Estadio La Corregidora back on January 19. Ariel Nahuelpán, Marcel Ruiz, and Fabian Castillo scored for Querétaro, however all rejoined Tijuana in the offseason when Grupo Caliente divested Gallos.

Photo by Refugio Ruiz/Getty Images

The 2020 Guard1anes Liga MX season will end on a strange note as Querétaro (3W 3D 10L) hosts Tijuana (4W 2D 10L) in the last match of the season. Both teams have been eliminated from the repechaje, and players and coaches will be likely playing for jobs in the 2021 Clausura.

Querétaro has some decent players, but hasn’t quite been able to put it all together this season. Goalkeeper Gil Alcalá has put up some solid performances, keeping his team in games they otherwise had no business being in. Hugo Silviera has five goals on the season, leading the team and tying him for twelfth overall in the league. The rest of the squad

Photo by Francisco Vega/Getty Images

Xolos have seen some good players this season despite significant roster churn during the season, losing Ariel Nahuelpán (now with Peñarol) and Miller Bolanos (now with Shanghai Shenhua). They did acquire Luis Leal from Newell’s Old Boys, however he hasn’t had the desired impact yet, scoring no goals in his eight appearances. It will take time for him to gel with his teammates however, and an offseason of working with them will hopefully get them all on the same page.

This makes predicting everything about a match difficult. Will the teams play their regulars or give bench players and U20s players minutes? Will they go through the motions or try and use this as a springboard for next season? For fans of both teams I believe they’ll want to see a good effort from whomever takes the pitch.