Mexican Primera Division, Clausura Round 4: Seriously Though, This Fixture List Is Awesome

You probably know a fan of the English Premier League that you have to call the wahmbulance for this week. They’re off for the weekend, and the FA Cup match-ups just aren’t quite as sexy as league play. Thankfully for them, the wahmbulance has arrived. There are some fantastic fixtures all over the world this weekend in Spain, Italy, and most importantly, Mexico!

If this weekend doesn’t suck you into FMF, you’ll never become an addict like me. Honestly, that would probably be for the best, but I need some junkie buddies, so I’m hoping all of you give the league south of the border a good shot this week. And if you don’t watch it, the terrorists win.

Estudiantes Tecos and Chivas Guadalajara kick off the action tonight at 9 pm ET. Tecos are pretty woeful, except for when they magically beat the living hell out of defending champions Monterrey a couple of weeks ago. Chivas, unsurprisingly, has started the season with three draws. Unfortunately for them, 17 points will not be good enough for a Liguilla place. This has some potential, but the good stuff comes Saturday.

The runners up of the last two consecutive tournaments, Santos Laguna, travel to Chiapas to face off against Jaguares in one of the 6 pm ET matches on Saturday. Jaguares just dropped a bomb on Alianza Lima in Lima to all but lock up a trip to the Copa Libertadores group stages, while Santos play really entertaining football with entertaining players, no matter the week. Look for Damian Manso and Juan Pablo Rodriguez to get into a few scuffles in the middle of the pitch.

Because the soccer Gods are a little too kind to us this week, you’ll actually have to choose between one of two fantastic 8 pm matches. Tigres, whose attacking pieces all appear to be healthy, finally, face a Toluca side who are coping quite well with the loss of their manager and some key players. At the same time, Cruz Azul and Pachuca face off and they shouldn’t disappoint. Look for a few goals in that match-up.

In one of the 10 pm night caps, the best team in Mexico takes on a struggling side who just fired their manager. Usually, this wouldn’t be all that interesting, but the team that’s down in the dumps is Club America, while the shocking table toppers are previously relegation threatened Atlas. This new look Atlas team are straight up nasty, while America appear to be falling apart right in front of our eyes, just weeks before they start their Copa Libertadores campaign. This game might give us a glimpse into who Atlas and America really are.

Pumas de la UNAM and Monterrey face off at 1 pm ET on Sunday, with both teams having a bit of proving themselves to do. Monterrey have yet to put in a good performance in the 2011 Clausura, while Pumas are performing slightly above expectations. The latter side’s comeback at Estadio Azul last week to notch a 3-3 draw with Group 3 rivals Cruz Azul appeared to prove that they have returned to title contention. If Monterrey don’t put in a good performance here, some finger pointing and doubt could get rolling up north.