Can America write history with nine consecutive wins or will Necaxa be the ones to stop them?

America travel to Aguascalientes to play Necaxa tonight (5:00 PM PT/7:00 PM CT/8:00 PM ET) for a chance to make history with nine consecutive wins. Necaxa need to win in order to maintain their playoff spot. A loss can kick them out of the top 12 and make their journey to a playoff spot even harder with only four games remaining.

Necaxa return home after a 1-3 loss on the road to Santos Laguna. They had a great start to the game, holding possession at the start, but eventually seeing Santos take over the game with Necaxa searching desperately for two goals by the 57th minute. They were able to get one back by the 78th minute but the hosts put the nail in the coffin in injury time with a third goal.

America played San Luis and had a pretty underwhelming first half. If not for a foul committed beforehand, San Luis would’ve been up a goal by the fourth minute. Abel Hernandez was in the box with Nestor Araujo marking him, and when the ball came into the area, Hernandez pushed Araujo away, which allowed him to head the ball into the back of the net. The official called the foul and America were saved. It looked as if the half was going to end scoreless until the 45th minute when Diego Valdes sent in a ball to Jonathan Rodriguez, who put the ball away to go up a goal. The second goal came from Valdes in the 54th minute, but it is controversial considering there was a tug from him as he was fighting for the ball. The final nail in the coffin for San Luis came two minutes later, when Henry Martin put in the third and final goal.

With the win, America tied their 1997 record of eight consecutive wins and secured a playoff spot along with Monterrey.

Now America have to face Necaxa for a chance to make history with nine consecutive wins, but it will have to be without some of their starters. They will be without Guillermo ‘Memo’ Ochoa, Alejandro Zendejas, Pedro Aquino, and Diego Valdes at the very least. Zendejas and Aquino will miss out on the game due to yellow card accumulation. While it has not been confirmed by the club why Ochoa and Valdes did not travel, it’s assumed the decision was made to give them rest. These decisions are understandable considering the end of the regular season is near and there is no reason to risk the starters. Same reason why it wouldn’t be surprising either if the starting lineup looked a little different. No doubt tonight’s game and the remaining three are going to look a bit different in the starting lineup, but no less dangerous for a team who has pulled off an incredible comeback.