Match Preview: FC Juárez vs. Chivas

FC Juarez and Chivas face off tonight in an important match with both teams coming off bad losses. El Rebaño look to right their ship after dropping 2-1 to Toluca in their home debut, while FC Juarez got clobbered badly after being outplayed in a 4-1 loss against Pachuca. Still, the border team are the only one of the two to get a win at home so far in the season after defeating Xolos two weeks ago, which is where the match will be played tonight.

Chivas came into the season with top momentum after a second place finish in the Copa por Mexico preseason tournament. While Chivas lost the final, they had won the previous five games and had done so playing some good football. They then started the season with an away win against tough Monterrey. Yet things looked to damper after a scoreless away tie against San Luis, where the big news was the injury to Alexis Vega, who will be out for some time. Without their best player, they managed to take the lead in their home debut against Toluca, but would eventually lose the match. While they had some good news in that Jose Juan Macias returned to training after missing the entire Apertura 2022 season due to an injury, he’s still not ready to make an impact with the team. It will be a tough test for Chivas and new coach Veljko Paunovic, who face an FC Juarez who are tough to beat in their stadium.

FC Juarez have had an expected season so far. A solid home game and two bad away losses are what most neutrals expected from the team that just barely made the Repechaje in the Apertura 2022 season. Juarez took the lead away against Pumas and only lost 2-1, but were dominated after going down to 10 players. They then got a solid win against Xolos in their second match, which maybe surprised some fans. They then traveled to face champions Pachuca and were totally outplayed in a match where they got a deserved 4-1 crushing loss. Still, Juarez look to be a tough matchup at home.

A lot of eyes will be on Ciudad Juarez as one of the two biggest teams arrive to play against the border city club. Chivas will hope to improve on last match although it will be tough without Vega. FC Juarez hope to have another great performance at home, but Chivas will be a tougher side than Xolos.