As far as games in Week 2 go, Cruz Azul vs Chivas Guadalajara is arguably the biggest match of the weekend as both clubs face off Saturday at the Estadio Azteca.
Cruz Azul comes into this game searching for its first win of the Clausura following a disappointing 1-1 draw at Puebla. For Pedro Caixinha’s men, this tournament is about redemption and this will be their first game back at the Estadio Azteca since losing last season’s Liga MX final to rival Club América.
Chivas, on the other hand, enjoyed a winning start to its season, beating Xolos de Tijuana 2-0 at the Estadio Akron. It was a promising start for the Rebaño, who look to make it two Liga MX wins in a row for the first time since Week 7 of last season.
- Six of Chivas Guadalajara’s last nine Liga MX matches have gone UNDER the total.
- Cruz Azul has just one win in its last six Liga MX matches.
- Cruz Azul’s last eight Liga MX matches have gone UNDER the total.
Cruz Azul vs Chivas Guadalajara Game Center
Cruz Azul wants to be dominant at home once again
Before their eventual demise in the Liga MX final, Cruz Azul looked practically unbeatable at the Estadio Azteca. Now, the team knows if they plan on having the same success as last season, they will need to do more of the same this time around.
As the record stands, Cruz Azul has lost just once since making the Estadio Azteca the team’s temporary home, and though it was a costly defeat, you have to think that some of that good play at home will stick for this 2019 Liga MX Clausura. In total, Cruz Azul has a record of 11 wins, four draws and one defeat in its new home.
The worry, however, is that the influence of coach Pedro Caixinha is slowly fizzling away, and if we go back as recently as last season’s Liguilla, Cruz Azul has just one win in its last six Liga MX matches, with two of those winless matches coming at the Estadio Azteca.
Optimism in Guadalajara
It has to be said, there hasn’t been this kind of optimism within Chivas for at least a few months. Not only did Guadalajara get the victory over Xolos de Tijuana over the weekend, they also earned a comfortable 2-1 win in their midweek cup match against Cimarrones de Sonora. While it is a small sample size, this Chivas team definitely looks different from the one that missed out on the playoffs last season. In particular, the team finally seems to have the kind of backbone that had been missing in recent tournaments.
It’s not just that Chivas arrives to this match on a high, they come into this game knowing they are not a bad team when playing away from home. In fact, despite all the trouble Chivas went through last season, they were a decent team when playing away from Guadalajara. They actually finished the campaign unbeaten in their last eight Liga MX matches, winning half of those. Coincidentally, one of those eight games was in the Estadio Azteca, when they drew one goal apiece with Club América.
Cruz Azul is something of a bogeyman team for Chivas
If there is some bad news for Chivas ahead of its visit to Cruz Azul, it is that the team hasn’t fared too well against La Máquina in recent seasons. In fact, Chivas has just one win in its last seven meetings with the Cementeros. Across those seven matches, four of those were Cruz Azul victories.
To make matters worse, Chivas has just one win over Cruz Azul in its last 11 Liga MX visits to Mexico City, that win coming all the way back in the 2007 Liga MX Clausura.
My pick...
I was expecting nothing less than a slow start from Cruz Azul after its demoralizing defeat in last season’s Liga MX final. But while I’m high on Chivas’ chances of getting a victory from this match, I think both teams will be glad to settle for a low-scoring draw.
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