With three games to go in the regular season, Cruz Azul takes on rival Pumas UNAM in one of the biggest games of Week 15 in the 2019 Liga MX Clausura.
La Máquina arrive to this game in something of a positive streak. After their goalless draw with rival Club América, they have now gone seven straight league games without a defeat, but remain a few points shy of officially sealing their place in the Liguilla. Currently, Cruz Azul is seventh in the league standings with 23 points.
Pumas, on the other hand, got a morale-boosting win over Xolos de Tijuana in Week 14. For the Universitarios, it was only their second win in their last seven league matches and they need something of a miracle to make the Liguilla. In essence, the Universitarios need to win their remaining three matches of the regular season and hope a combination of results go their way if they want to have any chance of reaching the playoffs.
- Cruz Azul is unbeaten in its last three head-to-head meetings vs Pumas UNAM.
- Cruz Azul has won its last three home matches in Liga MX.
- Four of Pumas UNAM’s last five matches across all competitions have finished with a total in the UNDER.
Cruz Azul vs Pumas UNAM Game Center
A blue wall
One of the strongest arguments that can be made about Cruz Azul is that their defense remains their best asset going into the last three weeks of the regular season. Only Tigres UANL and Club León have had a better defense this season than La Máquina, and in particular, their backline has been superb in their run of seven straight games without a defeat. Across those seven matches, Cruz Azul has only conceded more than one goal on one occasion and has notched three clean sheets.
However, one problem they might have is the sure absence of star defender Pablo Aguilar, who had to exit the last game with what appeared to be a serious injury to his leg. Aguilar has been a massive piece to Cruz Azul’s defense across the last two seasons, and if he is set to miss the rest of the season through injury, things are sure to get a lot more complicated for La Máquina starting with this match.
Away wins are hard to come by for Pumas
Ahead of this rivalry match with Cruz Azul at the Estadio Azteca, it is worth mentioning that Pumas UNAM has been an atrocious bet playing away from home. The Universitarios have lost four straight away matches across all competitions, including three straight without scoring a single goal. Of course, the advantage here for Pumas is that they really only have to do a few miles of traveling to Cruz Azul’s home stadium, but even so, La Máquina arrive to this match unbeaten in their last four at the Estadio Azteca.
It’s a rivalry match dominated by Cruz Azul
Things don’t get any better for Pumas when looking at their last games vs Cruz Azul. The Universitarios have just one win in their last eight meetings vs La Máquina, with four of those games being Cruz Azul victories.
As previously mentioned, they also seem to struggle away from home, in this case specifically against Cruz Azul. As the away team, Pumas has just one win in its last eight matches vs La Máquina. This includes games at both the Estadio Azteca and Estadio Azul, previous home of Cruz Azul.
My take on the game...
It would take something special to see Pumas UNAM make the Liguilla, which is why I really don’t think they have a chance in this game against Cruz Azul. La Máquina don’t look as explosive as last season when they made the Liga MX final, but they should still have enough talent at their disposal to get a good result here against Pumas. I’ll take a Cruz Azul win.
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