The Chivas Guadalajara vs Swansea friendly match will take place this Wednesday, July 16, 2014 (6:00 PM Pacific) at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Over 30,000 fans are expected to make an appearance at the Baseball Park, which will be converted into a soccer stadium for the night.
C.D. Guadalajara will be looking to start of the 2014 Liga MX Apertura the right way, contrary to what has been several abysmal tournaments for the 10 time Liga MX Champions. With the integration of Carlos Salcido, Luis Michel, Fernando Arce, and Angel Reyna to the side, Carlos Bustos will be expected to return this team to their years of glory.
His credibility will be tested against Swansea City, a team who also endured hardships the previous season. While Chivas has been on a steady decline with occasional glimpses of promise, Swansea City has been dazzling the Premier League with their style of play and even winning the League Cup, knocking out Chelsea along the way.
The two sides will be hoping to make a statement when they face each other at Miller Park so here’s a preview as to how the two will line-up.
Chivas Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Rodriguez, Vidrio, Alvarez, Pereira, Salcido, Enriquez, Castro, Arce, Reyna, Fierro, De Nigris
Swansea City Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Rangel, Williams, Flores, Davies, Britton, Canas, Dyer, Shelvey, Hernandez, Gomis
Bustos will look to incorporate as many of the signings into a side that is expected to be a more offensive team, while at the same time maintaining a strong defensive foundation. While Michel has come to been known as a long time steward of El Rebano Sagrado, he will most likely miss out on the no.1 spot to up and coming Rodriguez, who put in some strong performances the previous season.
Not much has changed about the back four, other than the possible inclusion of Salcido in the left back spot, Bustos will test him in this spot, but may revert to placing him in a holding midfielder role and rely on the younger legs of Araujo or Esparza later on. Arce and Reyna will hope to add much needed flair and creative spark and relieve some of the pressure from youngster Fierro. De Nigris will be seen as the best pick of the bunch, with aging and below par strikers Bravo and Marquez Lugo his only competition.
Gary Monk will be looking to pick up where his predecessor, Michael Laudrup, left off; increasing Swansea’s stature. With only a couple of new faces at the Liberty Stadium, many of the players expected to take to the field will be familiar faces. Lukasz Fabianski will most likely step in for Michael Vorm in between the sticks.
In front of him will be a back four that are familiar with one another, as is the midfield. Bafetimbi Gomis will likely get a chance to make his Swans debut with Michu still recoveriong from injury and Wilfried Bony on leave after a tiring World Cup campaign.
Chivas Guadalajara vs Swansea Prediction
Looking to be be a tough encounter for Chivas, it is exactly the kind of challenge they need in the lead up to the 2014 Apertura kickoff. While preseason may be prearing the rojiblancos properly, a tie would be a great result for them. Monk’s men have pulled off shock results against some of the biggest teams (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Napoli) and will also be eager to start off on the right foot for their 2014/15 season kickoff. If, and only if, C.D. Guadaljara play at the level expected, will they come out with a respectable result.
Expected result: Swansea City 2-1 C.D. Guadalajara
Chivas Guadalajara vs Swansea Television
The Chivas vs Swansea match is currently not scheduled to appear on tv.
