Match preview: Santos Laguna vs. Guadalajara

Game: Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. vs. Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V.

Date: Sunday, August 2nd

Time: 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 p.m. Central, 6:00 p.m. Pacific, 1:00 a.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Corona TSM (Torreón, Coah.)

Referees: REF: Eduardo Galvan Basulto, AR1: Mario Jesús López Carrillo, AR2: Telly Salvador Saldivar Guzman, 4TH: Jesus Rafael Lopez Valle, VAR: Angel Monroy Bello, AVAR: Jesús Sevilla Palafox

Television: United States - FS1, FOX Deportes Network; Mexico - Fox Sports

Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling TV (Free trial + monthly subscription), FOX Sports GO

All-time record: Santos holds the all-time record across all competitions, with 32 wins to Chivas’ 23 while the clubs have drawn 21 times. Strictly in Liga MX play, Santos holds a 27-22 advantage while the clubs have drawn 20. Santos leads 4-1 in Copa MX play, and in the old Interliga Santos won one in 2004 and the sides drew one back in 2005. In more recent history, the last time these teams met in Liga MX play was in Week 1 of the 2019 Apertura as Santos beat Chivas 3-0 thanks to goals from Brian Lozano, Matheus Dória, and Julio Furch.

Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images

It was never going to be an easy start to the season for Santos Laguna. Starting on the road against inarguably the best team of 2020 ended with Cruz Azul winning easily and center back Hugo Rodríguez seeing a red card in the 13th minute. Rodríguez will miss the match, with Félix Torres most likely getting the nod at center back with Dória. Santos didn’t fare much better on the offensive side of the ball, creating precious few chances on goal.

The good news for Santos however is that they were largely able to compete against a dangerous Cruz Azul side while down a player. Goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo made several good saves, and the midfield led by Fernando Gorriarán was able to dictate play for decent portions of the match. They’re also playing at TSM, where their home record has been stellar.

Photo by Refugio Ruiz/Getty Images

Chivas comes in to TSM after a hard-fought draw 0-0 against León last week. This comes on the heels of a great performance in the Copa GNP por México preseason tournament where they lost in the Final to the aforementioned Cruz Azul. Chivas was able to come away with a point despite being out-shot 6-2 at home by León.

While León is a tough opponent, Chivas didn’t have the same confidence they had in the Copa por México. Santos should be a much tougher test, especially in Torreón.

Both teams will look to improve over their previous performance, and both certainly can play better soccer than last week. Santos should have a slight edge playing in their home stadium, however missing Rodríguez will test the defense. Chivas needs to try to exploit any potential miscommunications or mistakes and make the most of whatever chances they get, or else it could be another long day for the opposing team at La Casa del Dolor Ajeno.