Saturday will be a must-win situation for Club Tijuana as they travel north of the border to BC Place Stadium to battle the Vancouver Whitecaps in the second Leagues Cup contest for both teams.
Earlier this week, the Caps played to a 2-2 draw with Los Angeles FC, winning on penalties, while the Mexicans were beaten 3-0 by the Black and Gold in their opener.
Match preview
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It was a Hollywood finish that ended with a victory for the team from Hollywood North, as the Whitecaps overcame some late drama to defeat LAFC.
Vanni Sartini's men appeared to have that game well in hand, up 2-0 before conceding twice in the final three minutes plus stoppage time but holding their nerve from the spot.
It was their first-ever shootout victory at this tournament, and it means that a victory or shootout loss on Saturday would be enough to see them advance into the knockout phase for a second successive campaign.
Their only Leagues Cup victory in normal time occurred when they conceded the opening goal, defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 in 2023.
If you include their 4-1 defeat against Wrexham in a friendly last weekend, the Whitecaps have lost their last two matches played at BC Place Stadium, conceding four times on each occasion.
In their six all-time meetings against sides from Liga MX, Vancouver have never won, with their only positive result coming in a 1-1 draw against Tigres in the opening leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup tie earlier this year.
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From the early going in Los Angeles last week, Tijuana were chasing that game, losing by a 3-0 score for the second time in their last three competitive fixtures.
Tijuana are still without a point in this competition while failing to find the back of the net in their last two Leagues Cup affairs.
Los Xolos have never played a match in Canada, though their last triumph came away from home, defeating Queretaro 2-1 in their opening game at the 2024 Apertura.
This side have not been in front for a single second of any Leagues Cup fixture, having been outscored 7-1 in three games.
Juan Carlos Osorio's men have not lost consecutive competitive fixtures since matchday 13 and 14 of the 2024 Clausura campaign.
With a victory on Saturday, Tijuana would make it beyond the group stage of a CONCACAF tournament for the first time since the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions Cup when they made it to the semi-finals, though they must win this match in normal time to advance.
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Team News
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In their opening game of this tournament, the Whitecaps were missing Javain Brown, who is dealing with a personal matter, Joe Bendik was on the substitutes bench after previously dealing with a sore back and Tristan Blackmon sat out with a groin injury.
Goals from Sebastian Berhalter and Ranko Veselinovic put the Caps up 2-0 within 17 minutes on Tuesday, but it was Isaac Boehmer who replaced Yohei Takaoka between the stick that was the hero, stopping one of the penalties that he faced, while the Caps converted all of their spot-kicks.
Last week, Tijuana did not have Carlos Valenzuela available once again, with the Argentine still recovering from a knee injury and not expected to return until late August.
There were plenty of changes made to their starting 11 against LAFC from the squad that began their 1-1 draw with Atletico San Luis, with Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Rafael Fernandez, Kevin Balanta, Efrain Alvarez and Kevin Castaneda the only ones to maintain their place in the opening lineup.
Vancouver Whitecaps possible starting lineup:
Boehmer; Halbouni, Veselinovic, Utvik; Ahmed, Cubas, Berhalter, Schopf; Gauld; Picault, White
Club Tijuana possible starting lineup:
Rodriguez; Fernandez, Bilbao, Gomez, Diaz; Mejia, Rivera; Alvarez, Reynoso, Corona; Hernandez
We say: Vancouver Whitecaps 2-0 Club Tijuana
There are too many question marks surrounding the Tijuana backline for us to believe they can contain a side as potent in transition as the Whitecaps have been through the 2024 campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
