The Xolos vs Monterrey Liga MX Week 6 match will be on Saturday, August 17, 2013 (5:00 PM Pacific) at the Estadio Tecnologico. Club Tijuana has had a decent start, earning 7 points from the first 4 matches. Monterrey has not been as good, and are yet to win a game after playing 5 matches already. Look for Xolos to take advantage of Monterrey’s poor form and go looking for its first away points.
It appears Xolos are progressing under the reign of new head coach Jorge Almiron. The young and unproven Argentinean head coach has the tough job of filling in for Turco Mohamed, arguably the best coach in the Liga MX in the past two years. Under Almiron, Xolos have played a much more offensive style, a big difference from the defensive formation Turco preferred. The team still has some adjusting to do with the new style, but they have had a decent start so far.
Nonetheless, it is still worrying that Xolos has several key offensive players out injured. Herculez Gomez is yet to make his debut with Xolos, the injury he sustained in the Gold Cup will keep him off the field for at least another 2-3 weeks. New Argentinean striker Benedetto, is still injured and will miss the match against Monterrey. Those are two key offensive players that will likely be replaced by Raul Enriquez and Emmanuel Cerda.
Dealing with player fatigue might also be an issue, as several prominent players participated in mid-week friendlies with their national teams. Joe Corona and Edgar Castillo both played a half of the USMNT vs Bosnia match in Sarajevo. Arce played for Mexico in the match against Ivory Coast, and Aguilar participated with the Paraguayan national team. We shall see whether Almiron opts to rest some of these players in the match against Monterrey.
Related News: Liga MX Standings & Liga MX Schedule
Monterrey have had a very difficult start to the season, yet to win a match, having earned just 3 points. Monterrey had two consecutive seasons where they backed into the playoffs as the lowest seed. With this bad start and awful playing style so far, Monterrey does not look like it will be one of the Liga MX headlining teams this season.
Xolos vs Monterrey Prediction
Xolos has all of the momentum coming into this match, they just defeated Pumas at home, and are playing against a struggling and under-pressure Monterrey. In the match against Pumas, Tijuana demonstrated that they are understanding Almiron’s playing style. Look for Tijuana to play an attacking style and get its first win over a weak and confused Monterrey. The Xolos vs Monterrey match will end in a 2-1 away victory for Tijuana.
Xolos vs Monterrey TV Schedule
The Xolos vs Monterrey match will be televised this Saturday, August 17, 2013 on Unimas at 5:00 PM Pacific.
