Pachuca can claim their first victory of the new Liga MX Apertura season when they welcome Atletico San Luis to Estadio Hidalgo on Tuesday.
Los Tuzos played to a 0-0 draw with Club Leon on Saturday, while San Luis remained unbeaten in this portion of the campaign, managing a 2-2 draw with Mazatlan.
Match preview
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A match between the last two CONCACAF Champions Cup winners did not live up to the hype, with Pachuca failing to score for a second match running on Saturday.
This is the second successive season that they have begun the Apertura campaign without a victory after two matchdays, putting them 15th in the table.
Guillermo Almada's men are the only side yet to score in this phase of the competition, and they would match their longest goalless run in the Apertura since 2022 (three) should they fail to find the back of the net on Tuesday.
Pachuca have lost their last two Liga MX contests played at home, both by a 1-0 score, and both times against Monterrey.
Los Tuzos have won two of their previous three home fixtures against Atletico San Luis but lost both encounters a season ago, including a 2-0 defeat at Estadio Hidalgo last August.
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After showing plenty of resilience in their matchday one triumph versus America (2-1), it was the opposite story for San Luis on Friday.
Domenec Torrent's men had a two-goal lead with fewer than five minutes remaining and let it slip away, going winless now in five straight league fixtures when conceding a second-half strike.
San Luis have failed to win three of their previous four league contests in which they had drawn first blood, with their only triumph over that stretch being on their final matchday of the recent Clausura campaign at Santos Laguna (3-0).
On a positive note, though, they are unbeaten in three successive competitive fixtures and have points in consecutive Liga MX encounters away from home.
Atleti de San Luis have not gone unbeaten in their opening three Apertura fixtures since the 2021 campaign when they claimed seven points from their first three contests.
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Team News
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On Tuesday, Pachuca will be without Oussama Idrissi after the Moroccan received a straight red card before the half-hour mark against Leon.
Goalkeeper Carlos Moreno stopped the five shots that he faced on Saturday for his first clean sheet of the 2024 Apertura campaign.
Against Mazatlan, San Luis were once again without Vitinho as the Brazilian continues to deal with a knee injury, while captain Javier Guemez and Leo Bonatini were the newcomers in the starting 11.
Bonatini had the opening goal on Friday before his replacement, Franck Boli, netted his first of the new campaign in the latter stages of the second half.
Pachuca possible starting lineup:
Moreno; L. Rodriguez, Cabral, Barreto, B. Gonzalez; Pedraza, Deossa; O. Gonzalez, Bautista, A. Gonzalez; Puente
Atletico San Luis possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Dominguez, Dourado, Cruz; Chavez, Salles-Lamonge, Galdames, Phillipe; Najera, Klimowicz; Bonatini
We say: Pachuca 2-1 Atletico San Luis
While San Luis have got the better of Pachuca in recent outings, we trust the experience of the defending Champions Cup winners' to bounce back and earn a comfortable victory on Tuesday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
