Match preview: Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Club Tijuana

Game: Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V. vs. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente

Date: Saturday, April 17th

Time: 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central, 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 12:00 a.m. UTC

Venue: Estadio Caliente (Tijuana, B.C.) Mexican state abbreviations available here

Referees: REF: Diego Montaño Robles, AR1: Pablo Israel Hernández Luna, AR2: Telly Salvador Saldivar Guzman, 4TH: Juan Andres Esquivel Gonzalez, VAR: Gerardo Martínez Bravo, AVAR: María Isabel Tovar Díaz

Television: United States - Telemundo, UNIVERSO; Mexico - Claro Sports, Afizzianados; Argentina - Claro Sports; Belize - Claro Sports; Bolivia - Claro Sports; Chile - Claro Sports; Colombia - Claro Sports; Costa Rica - Claro Sports; Cuba - Claro Sports; Dominican Republic - Claro Sports; Ecuador - Claro Sports; El Salvador - Claro Sports; Guatemala - Claro Sports; Honduras - Claro Sports; Nicaragua - Claro Sports; Panama - Claro Sports; Paraguay - Claro Sports; Peru - Claro Sports; Puerto Rico - Claro Sports; Slovenia - Sportklub 2; Uruguay - Claro Sports; Venezuela - FOX Sports 2

Streaming: Telemundo Deportes, Sling TV (Subscription)

All-time record: Tijuana holds the all time record across all competitions, winning eleven to Guadalajara’s five with the clubs drawing five times. The clubs have only met twice outside of Liga MX play, with each team winning once in two Copa MX games. The last time the teams met, they played to a 0-0 draw in Tijuana back on October 4, 2020. The last time they met in Guadalajara, Xolos won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ariel Nahuelpán on October 30, 2019.

Photo by Jam Media/Getty Images

Last week, Xolos lost on the road to Mazatlán FC after being up 2-0, prompting manager Pablo Guede to resign. The show must go on however, and Tijuana heads to Guadalajara to face Chivas and try and stop their freefall out of playoff contention. As high as third place after Week 3, Xolos now sit in 12th place and in real danger of missing out on the repechaje.

Xolos has been wildly inconsistent this season. At times their defense has shined, looking almost unbeatable. Other times, their offense looks deadly. At no time however have they been able to put these things together for a comprehensive period of time. It makes it both fun and maddening to watch, because you truly never know what you’ll get.

Photo by Mauricio Salas/Jam Media/Getty Images

Chivas have been equally as maddening this season, and they’re also in real danger of missing out on the repechaje. They sit in 15th, and while they have a game in hand it’s against Monterrey. Chivas has done ok offensively, but struggled mightily on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve conceded 20 goals, which is 13th in the league but again they’ve played one game less than everyone besides Rayados, who are fifth in scoring with 19 goals despite also having played one game less than everyone else.

If for no other reason, this should be an entertaining match between two teams who should be desperate to get points against a team in the bottom part of the table. And while neither will be favorites to win silverware if they win, they will be on a path toward giving themselves a shot. Sometimes, that’s all you need.