Pumas vs Puebla July 21, 2013 – Liga MX Week 1

Puebla
Flickr/Lucas Basich

The Pumas vs Puebla match will have Puebla host Pumas at the Estadio Cuauhtemoc on Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 10:00 AM PST for their first match of the Liga Bancomer MX Apertura 2013 tournament.

Pumas- some players out, new players in

Pumas will face their first match of the Liga MX with some missing elements, due to their participation in the Gold Cup. Efrain Velarde and Javier Cortes are still playing in that tournament; both are key players that Pumas will deeply miss. David Cabrera, sadly, has gotten injured again and will be out for six months, which will leave Pumas without a strong midfielder.

For this new season, Pumas has signed two new elements to support the team. The first being Candido Ramirez, coming from Santos in a trade for Eduardo Herrera and Ariel Nahuelpan, an Argentinian striker coming from Barcelona de Guayaquil, Ecuador. With these two players, Pumas are hoping to reinforce their weak points in the midfield and the offense, as these areas have been a factor in previous seasons.

Puebla- a new season and trying to stay in the Liga MX

The preseason was like a circus:  San Luis disappearing to create Chiapas FC, Jaguares Moving to Queretaro and Veracruz buying off the spot that was rightfully owned by La Piedad. It’s clear that the league needs more adjustments, in order to avoid things like that from happening again. It takes away from the culture and pride of the Mexican league.

Puebla will begin a new season with the hopes of accumulating many points in order to retain their spot in the first division. Manuel Lapuente has a hard task at hand, since Puebla did not run well last season. However; Puebla will count with the experience of new players in their squad, like Leandro Augusto, Luis Noriega, Alfredo Moreno and Oscar Rojas.

Pumas vs Puebla Prediction

The Pumas vs Puebla match will be a tight encounter, as these two teams did not do well in their respective pre-season matches and it is still too early to tell how the new players will adapt. Nonetheless, if their game scheme stays loyal to last season’s, we will see a Pumas trying to retain possession of the ball and trying to use the abilities of players like Candido Ramirez and Emilio Orrantia on the sides in order to prove Ariel Nahuelpan in the offense.

Puebla will rely on their game in the midfield and maybe we will get to see Leandro Augusto and Moreno, which both used to play in Xolos.  I predict the Pumas vs Puebla match will end in a 1-0 victory for Pumas, which will begin the season on the right foot.

Pumas vs Puebla 2013 Television

The Pumas vs Puebla match will be televised on Azteca America on Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 10 AM Pacific.