El Kraken continues receiving fans; this time for Mazatlán - Querétaro meeting

Thanks to the approval of the state of Sinaloa’s Secretary of Health department, fans will be allowed to enter El Kraken on Friday night when Mazatlán FC play hosts to Gallos Blancos de Querétaro at 10:30 ET (9:30 CT). This marks the third consecutive match this occurs, and fifth out of the last six. And just as it was a couple weeks ago against Atlético San Luis, they will be allowed to fill 45% of the stadium (11,250) with fans, which isn’t bad, considering the 25,000 capacity the stadium can hold. However, they’ve been unable to reach even that mark since they started readmitting fans, so I wouldn’t worry about masses of people piling up that much, as it should be much less than 45%, just as it has been. With that said, it’s definitely a long way from no fans at all.

One of the main reasons why this go-ahead has been given recently by the Sinaloa government is the fact that the west coast state is one of only 8 states in the entire country with a yellow light status, which is the third best out of four (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green). Chiapas is the only state that holds a green light status. In other words, most of the country is still on high alert. The fact the city of Mazatlán has handled their cases so well (only 88 active COVID cases to date) speaks volumes as to why this decision is being made. All in all, this is great news for all of Liga MX, as the league safely makes an attempt at returning to normality, slowly incorporating fans back into the mix.

So, what does this match hold in store? While Mazatlán are in a bit of a free fall at the moment, being losers of three straight and resting 15th overall with just 7 points, Querétaro find themselves in 9th overall with 10 points. And although Gallos do remain undefeated at home after their draw vs. Puebla on Sunday, their road performance has been something of a tragedy. They hold the worst road record in the football year, with 2 draws and 10 losses, accounting for the only road winless team in the league. And while Mazatlán have obtained both of their current season wins at home, they’ve also drawn once as well as their only home loss coming in their last outing, with San Luis piling it on, 0-3.

In short, it’s a battle of struggling teams with no clear-cut favorite. Now, with that being said, I’m forced to narrowly favor the home squad due to the visitors having lost 83% of their road matches this year, along with being winless. While I don’t expect a blowout in any way, I do expect a close 1-0 affair in favor of the Mazatlecos.