Mazatlan can win their home opener of the Liga MX Apertura campaign for the first time since 2021 when they host Atletico San Luis on Friday at Estadio El Encanto.
Last Saturday, Canoneros suffered a 1-0 defeat to Cruz Azul in their first match of the new campaign, while Atleti came from behind to stun Club America 2-1.
Match preview
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Throughout their opening match, Mazatlan were pushed back into their end of the field throughout the 90 minutes and eventually gave in, conceding the winner in the 94th minute.
This occurred despite having a man advantage for the final 15 minutes, stretching their Liga MX winless run to three games dating back to the recent Clausura season, scoring just once over that stretch.
A lack of quality in the attacking third held them back throughout the most recent Clausura campaign, when they netted the joint third-fewest goals in that portion of the season (21).
Victor Manuel Vucetich has been entrusted to take this club to another level, and he comes with an impressive resume, capturing three Apertura titles and three CONCACAF Champions Cup trophies as a manager.
Three of the four Mazatlan victories in the previous Clausura campaign took place at home, but they won their final three Apertura affairs last season at Estadio El Encanto.
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The first surprise of the new Liga MX campaign took place at Estadio Alfonso Lastras, where San Luis answered a fifth-minute strike by Henry Martin with an equaliser two minutes later and a winner early in the second half.
It ended a two-match losing run for them domestically at home, while they won their final away fixture of the Clausura last season, defeating Santos Laguna 3-0.
Like Vucetith, San Luis boss Domenec Torrent comes into this season with an impressive resume as well, mainly as an assistant to Pep Guardiola, winning three La Liga and Bundesliga titles with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, respectively, plus a Premier League trophy at Man City.
On Friday, San Luis can claim consecutive domestic triumphs for the first time since January 2024, when they won their opening two Clausura affairs.
They were thumped 5-0 by Mazatlan in their first meeting against them in 2020 but are unbeaten in their previous seven encounters versus Canoneros in this competition, winning this exact fixture last season 1-0.
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Team News
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Alan Torres and Jordan Sierra were two of the new faces in the Mazatlan starting 11 on matchday one, both of whom signed with them earlier this month.
Gustavo Del Prete, who joined them on loan from Pumas, was also in the starting 11 last week, while Gustavo Sanchez, on loan from Monterrey, made his first appearance of the season, replacing Josue Colman in the second half.
In their opener last Saturday, San Luis were without midfielder Vitinho, as he is dealing with a knee injury which may keep him out until late July.
Playing just in behind their new striker Franck Boli, Mateo Klimowicz netted a brace in the first match of the new campaign, including the winner five minutes into the second half.
Mazatlan possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Colula, Almada, Alvarado, Rodriguez; Torres, Meraz; Del Prete, Rubio, Colman; Amarilla
Atletico San Luis possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Dominguez, Dourado, Cruz; Chavez, Galdames, Salles-Lamonge, Sanabria; Bonatini, Klimowicz; Boli
We say: Mazatlan 0-1 Atletico San Luis
These teams have two experienced coaches who should prepare them well for each match, but there are more new faces on the Mazatlan side, so it may take them a little longer to gel as a unit.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
