Pumas can maintain their 100% home record in the 2024 Liga MX Apertura campaign when they host Pachuca on Sunday at Estadio Olimpico Universitario.
With a 2-1 come-from-behind victory on matchday two, the Mexico City club are second in the table, two points behind arch-rivals Cruz Azul and three ahead of Los Tuzos, who are eighth following a 2-0 victory over Atletico San Luis.
Match preview
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Once again, Pumas have begun an Apertura campaign in fine form, currently one of five sides without a defeat in this portion of the domestic season.
It is the third successive time in which they have begun the opening phase unbeaten after three fixtures, while they have not lost any of their last four matches across all competitions.
On Sunday, Gustavo Lema's men have a chance to begin the Apertura with back-to-back home triumphs for the first time since 2017, claiming a 4-1 victory in their opener in Mexico City two weeks ago.
Four of their seven points so far in this competition have occurred when they conceded the opening goal, while they have come back to earn a result in four of their previous five Liga MX affairs when going down 1-0.
Universitarios have collected at least a point in nine of their previous 10 home contests versus Pachuca, including a 3-1 triumph in the 2024 Clausura.
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Early into the Apertura campaign, the reigning CONCACAF Champions Cup winners have shown strong defensive stability, conceding just once in three domestic affairs.
Guillermo Almada's men have posted consecutive clean sheets in this competition but have not gone three successive Apertura games without conceding since September 2006.
With four points after three matchdays, Pachuca have claimed two more than they had at this stage of the previous Apertura campaign.
Pachuca have not lost a Liga MX encounter when leading or tied after 45 minutes since a 2-0 defeat versus Atletico San Luis in August 2023.
The last away victory for them against Pumas came in March 2023, when they netted a pair of second-half strikes to win 2-0.
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Team News
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One change was made to the Pumas starting 11 on matchday three this week, with Pablo Monroy replacing Hector Ramirez at left-back.
Second-half strikes courtesy of substitutes Angel Rico and Rodrigo Lopez enabled them to come from behind and collect all three points on Wednesday.
Oussama Idrissi is eligible to return to the Pachuca lineup for this upcoming fixture after sitting out against San Luis with a red card suspension and Gael Alvarez taking his place as an attacking midfielder.
Carlos Sanchez and Alan Bautista each found the back of the net on Tuesday, the first two goals for this team in the Apertura this year.
Pumas possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Bennevendo, Nathan, Magallan, Ramirez; Lopez, Caicedo; Suarez, Ruvalcaba, Huerta; Funes Mori
Pachuca possible starting lineup:
Moreno; Sanchez, Berlanga, Barreto, Gonzalez; Pedraza, Deossa; Rodriguez, Bautista, Alvarez; Baston
We say: Pumas 1-0 Pachuca
These are two evenly matched sides, but Pumas have shown tremendous resilience this season, which should give them a psychological edge on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
