In the most tantalizing game of Jornada 13, Club América will take on league leaders Tijuana at Estadio Azteca. Both teams should be well-rested coming off of the international break, and will be looking to begin the final stretch of the season with 3 points. Xolos are now solely focused on earning the #1 seed, while América are looking to lock up their liguilla spot. Here’s how Las Aguilas will likely line up:
Goalkeeper: Moisés Muñóz
Despite his somewhat poor goals against record, Muñóz has only been beaten from outside the box twice this season.
Left Back: Osmar Mares
Mares has settled in nicely into the left-back spot for Las Aguilas, and has been fairly consistent for them. He gets the job done and stays out of the referee’s book.
Center Backs: Pablo Aguilar, Bruno Valdéz, and Paolo Goltz
Aguilar traveled with Paraguay over the break, but did not get any minutes, and as such, should be well rested for another 90 minutes on Saturday. Goltz has shown he is capable of playing both in the center and on the right, so it should be no surprise that he will take the center-right spot in the five-man defensive line. Valdéz played the final 15 minutes in Paraguay’s 1-0 victory over Argentina this past weekend, and will likely take up the center-left role once again.
Right Back: Renato Ibarra
Ibarra showed what he can do on defense during Jornada 12 against Rayados, when he played 90 minutes in the back for the first time in ages. Ricardo La Volpe must’ve liked what he saw from the Ecuadorian two weeks ago, or else he would’ve taken Ibarra out at some point..
Left Midfielder: William Da Silva
Da Silva has gotten increasingly more minutes each of the past four league matches, and you can expect him to finally get the full 90 minutes thanks to his recent good form.
Center Midfielder: Osvaldo Martínez
Martínez gets the nod over José Guerrero by virtue of being a much larger threat offensively. Martínez is not afraid to test the opposing keeper, and has 17 shots from outside the box this season, including one from beyond mid-field.
Right Midfielder: Rubens Sambueza
The captain will once again be running the midfield Las Aguilas. Sambueza leads Liga MX with 564 attacking touches (as defined by the league’s website) and has made 20 passes that led to shots, good for 4th in the league.
Strikers: Oribe Peralta and Silvio Romero
It was thought before the season that Tigres’ 3-headed monster of Gignac, Ismael Sosa, and Javier Aquino would be by far the most dangerous offense in the league, but since Oribe’s return from the Olympics, this duo has challenged several other offenses (Tijuana, Pachuca) for Liga MX supremacy.
(4-4-2)
Via – Lineup Builder
