Atletico San Luis can maintain their 100% record at home in the 2024 Apertura portion of the Liga MX campaign when they welcome Club Tijuana to Estadio Alfonso Lastras on Friday.
Both sides were beaten on matchday three of this competition, with Atleti losing 2-0 to Pachuca and Tijuana suffering a 3-0 loss at Cruz Azul.
Match preview
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It was another poor defensive showing for San Luis on Tuesday, but this time they had no response when going behind, suffering their first defeat of the Apertura this season.
After three matchdays, Domenec Torrent's men find themselves in ninth place with four points, just a point above Necaxa for a place in the play-in round.
On Friday, they can win consecutive home matches in the Apertura for the first time since July-September 2023 when they won four in a row at Estadio Alfonso Lastras.
Atleti de San Luis have lost their last five domestic encounters when going behind after 45 minutes, and they have not won a game this year when facing a deficit at the interval.
Since a 2-0 victory against Pachuca on matchday six in the opening league phase last year, this team are winless in six successive Apertura contests away from home.
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One of the early surprises in the Apertura this year has been Tijuana, who are currently second with six points, three below Cruz Azul for the league lead.
Tuesday was not their finest moment, however, with this team suffering their worst defeat at this stage of a domestic season since November 2023 (3-0 loss to America).
Juan Carlos Osorio's men need to improve their transitional moments, conceding the joint second-most goals in the opening Liga MX phase (six), many occurring on the counter.
The last time they lost a domestic contest, Los Xolos were able to bounce back with a victory in their following matchday, and they have not suffered consecutive league defeats since matchday 13 and 14 of the most recent Clausura season.
Tijuana have points in five consecutive meetings versus San Luis but have never beaten them away from home in a Liga MX showdown.
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Team News
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Earlier this week, Atleti were once again without Vitinho as the Brazilian continues to recover from a knee injury, which has kept him out of the Apertura all season.
We saw a number of new faces in their lineup on matchday three, with Iker Moreno, Eduardo Aguila, Aldo Cruz, Benjamin Galdames, Rodrigo Dourado and Yan Phillipe all in the starting 11 against Pachuca.
Carlos Valenzuela will miss another encounter for Club Tijuana this week, as he is still dealing with an injury that could keep him sidelined until late August.
Several new faces were in their starting 11 on matchday five, including Jose Antonio Rodriguez in goal, along with Aaron Mejia, Kevin Balanta, Nicolas Diaz and Christian Rivera.
Atletico San Luis possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Chavez, Dominguez, Aguila, Cruz; Galdames, Dourado, Klimowicz, Sanabria; Phillipe, Bonatini
Club Tijuana possible starting lineup:
Rodriguez; Mejia, Balanta, Gomez, Diaz; Rivera, Corona; Castaneda, Reynoso, Alvarez; Gonzalez
We say: Atletico San Luis 1-1 Club Tijuana
They were each easily handled by their opponents earlier this week, and we believe both sides may be a little timid and struggle to find a decisive breakthrough on Friday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
