The Santos vs Chivas match will be held this Friday, January 3, 2014 (7:30 AM Pacific) at the Estadio TSM Corona. Santos Laguna will start their Clausura 2014 journey at home, in what is expected to be a successful campaign for Pedro Caixinha and his team. Their opponent, Chivas of Guadalajara, had a regretful 2013 year, therefore there are high expectations for the ‘rojiblancos’ to change their course early into the new season.
The ‘Laguneros’ are in for a challenging Clausura 2014 this semester; but why challenging? Because the team coached by Pedro Caixinha has all the ingredients to become Liga MX champions, and anything else will be seen as a disappointment. Last Apertura 2013, Santos fell short of reaching the final after losing against eventual champions Leon in the semifinals. This season, Caixinha and his players will have the pressure to improve on their previous accomplishment, while at the same time competing in the Copa Libertadores 2014. It will be interesting to see in which tournament the team will focus on once games begin in the intercontinental competition.
The ‘Rebaño Sagrado’ had arguably the worst year in their century-long history throughout 2013. The team was a complete embarrassment everywhere from management to the locker room as the ‘most popular’ team in Mexico was a regular amongst controversial stories. To start this 2014 on the right foot, management was redone by firing sporting president Dennis Te Kloese, and Apertura 2013 coach, Juan Carlos Ortega. In their positions, Te Kloese was replaced by duo Juan Francisco Palencia, and Juan Manuel Herrero; the vacant coaching seat was filled with the return of Jose Luis Real.
With the radical changes in the higher positions of the club, also came various changes in the locker room. The three most notorious were the releases of captain Hector Reynoso who left to Morelia, Luis Michel who is still with Chivas, but who was not chosen to play this season. and Marco Fabian who was sent on a loan to Cruz Azul. The biggest player signings were Jair Pereira and Israel Castro from Cruz Azul, Gerardo Rodriguez from Toluca, and Omar Bravo from Atlas.
Santos vs Chivas Prediction
The Santos vs Chivas match will call for the attention of many fans considering Chivas is still the most popular team in Mexico. However, that does not mean this will be the most intense match of the opening weekend, since Santos is at a much higher level in talent and competitiveness than the visitors.
This Friday night, Santos will play aggressively as is the norm under Caixinha’s tactics. Meanwhile, Chivas will style a counter-attacking system because as they will try to be solid on defense against one of the better offenses in the Liga MX. In a good match, the Santos vs Chivas game will end in a 2-0 win for the ‘Laguneros’.
Santos vs Chivas TV Schedule
The Santos vs Chivas match will be televised this Friday, January 3, 2014 on Univision Deportes at 7:30 PM Pacific.
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Santos 1-1 Chivas Highlights
