This week’s slate of Mexican Primera action looks like it should provide some serious entertainment. Let’s avoid 0-0 draws, shall we boys?
Mexican Primera Preview, October 15-17: Cruz Azul Vs. Santos Highlights An Exciting Week
A week after a series of 0-0 draws, this should be a much better week in the Mexican Primera.
Estudiantes Tecos versus Atlas
Friday, 9 pm Eastern. TV: Galavision
Anyone who watches this match needs to see a psychiatrist. It’s Friday night, go out! Tecos and Atlas have the distinction of being the two least entertaining teams in the division, although Atlante fans might vouch for their teams ineptitude. This match might resemble watching a couple of idiots banging their heads against the wall. If you have Galavision and a DVR, it might be worth your while to DVR the match in case it’s decent. But please, for the love of god, do not waste your time watching this live.
Cruz Azul versus Santos Laguna
Saturday, 6 pm Eastern. TV: Azteca America, ESPN Deportes
In almost certainly the marquee match-up of the week, two of Mexico's heavy hitters square off at Estadio Azul. Both teams looked pretty lame in 0-0 draws last week. Based on their other performances this season, don't expect a repeat. This match should have plenty of goals, especially with the return of Cristian Benitez to the Santos side. I've got a feeling that both Santos and Cruz Azul are going to try to take the game to the other, so expect attacking midfield maestros Chaco Gimenez and Fernando Arce to have plenty of time and space to operate. Maybe this is all just wishful thinking after last week, but I feel like this is going to be a goal fest.
San Luis versus Quaretaro
Saturday, 6 pm Eastern. TV: Telefutura
It looks like San Luis are coming back to earth after a solid start. Last week, they managed to lose to Atlas. Yes, that Atlas. The team that had five goals through the first nine weeks. Against a respectable Quaretaro side, their struggles might continue. The one saving grace for them is that Quaretaro’s 20 goals allowed are tied for second most in the league. Last week, Quaretaro drew Chivas de Guadalajara 2-2 in a game with a comically chaotic second half. These two teams have proven themselves capable of any result at any time, so making a prediction is relatively pointless. The score prediction below was achieved by me drawing two numbers out of a hat.
Chivas de Guadalajara versus Necaxa
Saturday, 8 pm Eastern. TV: Telemundo
So I was going through the list of Chivas fixtures from this season, recalling epic screw-ups and moments of ineptitude. At one point, I recalled that this team got to the final of Copa Libertadores. This is unbelievable and makes LDU Quito’s Copa win a couple of years back look like a very minor upset in comparison. I have no attachment to Chivas, yet it is incredibly annoying to me how much they suck. Did Javier Hernandez get out of there in time or what? There should be about 5,000 people in attendance for this match at Estadio Chivas, making the Revs’ crowd at “The Razor” look like one at a Seattle Sounders match by comparison. This is Chivas in a nutshell, so ridiculous that they make the incredible achievements and shortcomings of other teams look minor. They’re a better team than Necaxa and they’ll find a way to screw this game up.
Pachuca versus Morelia
Saturday, 8 pm Eastern. TV: Telefutura
Anytime anyone wants to find and revive the corpse of Miguel Sabah, feel free. He's Morelia's leading scorer with three goals, but that stat is misleading; all three goals came in August during a 6-0 rout of Quaretaro. Take away that game and Morelia have five goals in their other 10 games with zero goals from Sabah. Without him in top form, they can't score, and he's been invisible for two-and-a-half months. Pachuca does not have Morelia's striker problem, as they have eleventy billion competent strikers, a couple of which are red hot. After a terrible start, Edgar Benitez and Dario Cvitanich are flying high with a combined ten goals. On the other side of the ball, Pachuca have allowed 19 goals this season while Morelia's nine goals allowed are tied for best in the league. With Pachuca's good offense facing Morelia's good defense and Pachuca's bad defense facing Morelia's bad offense, this match should be interesting. I think that Morelia's attack is worse than Pachuca's defense, and this will be the difference.
Atlante versus Tigres
Saturday, 10 pm Eastern. TV: None! That’s how bad Atlante is.
No, really, there’s a Mexican Primera match that isn’t on television. This almost never happens and basically tells you everything you need to know about Atlante. If Tigres don’t win this game, they should be publicly humiliated in some way. Only one player for Atlante has more than one goal and Tigres are tied for the lowest goals against in the league. If there isn’t a television network that can be bothered to put this match on, then I can’t be bothered to write any more about it.
Monterrey versus Toluca
Saturday, 10 pm Eastern. TV: Telemundo
During last week's round of 0-0 draws, Toluca failed to score because they received an early red card and had to bunker in. Monterrey, on the other hand, just didn't play well. They were without Osvaldo Martinez and Walter Ayovi because of international duties, and the return of those players for this week's fixture should be a major boost. The player that received a red card for Toluca was defender Diego Novaretti, and they will likely miss his presence dearly this week. Honestly, I have a feeling that this aging Toluca side are going to get steamrolled by a Monterrey team boosted by the return of Ayovi and Martinez that will be looking to assert their dominance after a poor performance last week. Humberto Suazo passes it to the guy, he shoots, it's good. Boom goes the dynamite.
Puebla versus America
Sunday, 12 pm Eastern. TV: Azteca America, Fox Sports en Español
With their schizo set of results, it’s difficult to figure out how good or bad Puebla really are. They’ve put in some solid performances this year, but their performance last week against Necaxa was really bad. It’s hard to imagine that things are going to get any better this week against Club America. America have underperformed to an extent, but they’re still a very talented side playing some respectable football. I thoroughly expect Vicente Vuoso to bag a goal or two and put Puebla away.
Pumas versus Jaguares de Chiapas
Sunday, 12 pm Eastern. TV: Telemundo
That porous Pumas defense better sort themselves quickly, because Jaguares are a more dangerous team than their total of 16 goals scored suggests. They played all of the league’s heavy hitters to start the season and did so without the services of target man Jackson Martinez. Along with his partners in crime Danilinho and Carlos Ochoa, Martinez and the Jaguares attack look primed to put a couple of goals up on a struggling Pumas team. The Pumas defense is talented enough that they could conceivably pitch a shutout, but there isn’t any evidence to suggest that they’re going to. They allowed three goals against a Pachuca team weakened by injuries and international call-ups last week, so it would be presumptuous to say that they’re capable of containing Jaguares.
Predictions
Estudiantes Tecos 1, Atlas 1
Cruz Azul 2, Santos Laguna 2
San Luis 1, Quaretaro 1
Chivas de Guadalajara 1, Necaxa 1
Pachuca 2, Morelia 0
Atlante 0, Tigres 2
Monterrey 4, Toluca 1
Puebla 0, Club America 1
Pumas 1, Jaguares de Chiapas 2
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