CD Guadalajara and Toluca raise the curtain on their respective 2024 Liga MX campaigns with a meeting at Estadio Akron on Saturday.
The hosts head into this one off the back of a thrashing in their final warm-up fixture, while the visitors take to the field for the first time since they saw last season's playoff run ended by this weekend's opponents back in May.
Match preview
CD Guadalajara were on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat against Pachuca when the teams faced off at Estadio Carlos Vega Villalba two Sundays ago.
Fernando Gago's men went into the interval trailing to Sergio Barreto's opener after which Gael Alvarez and Luis Puente sealed the deal in the second period.
Consequently, Los Rojiblancos are now without a victory in four of their last five matches across all competitions following a six-game winning run prior to that.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who will be looking to end a five-match winless run in this fixture since a narrow 2-1 triumph in early 2023.
Unbeaten in each of their last six home outings, Saturday's hosts will be looking to put on a show in front of their fans as they look to fly out of the blocks.
Toluca could not overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first game in the concluding clash of their two-legged playoff tie against Guadalajara on May 12.
Paivo Renato's men were in the ascendancy for large spells of the game but failed to convert their dominance into anything significant.
A third-place finish in the Liga MX table last time out was Diablos Rojos' highest since 2018, and there is plenty of cause for optimism heading into the new season.
In what is set to be a fourth meeting of 2024 between Saturday's opponents this weekend, the visitors will be keen to finally get one over their hosts.
Team News
New arrival Fidel Barajas and Omar Govea could be in line to make their official debuts for Guadalajara having joined from Real Salt Lake and Monterrey respectively.
Victor Guzman grabbed the decisive winner for the hosts in their playoff triumph over the visitors and will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Toluca's Garcia Caprizo is yet to return from international duty after Mexico were recently dumped out of the group stages of the ongoing Copa America.
This should see 33-year-old Carlos Orrantia get the nod to feature at right-back, although Federico Pereira could also be deployed.
CD Guadalajara possible starting lineup:
Whalley; Sepulveda, El-mesmari, Gonzalez, Guzman; Govea, Chavez, Marin; Brigido, Cowell, Sanchez
Toluca possible starting lineup:
Volpi; Araujo, Pereira, Escobar, Orrantia; Baeza, Ruiz; Meneses, Vega, Chonteco; Lopez
We say: CD Guadalajara 2-1 Toluca
Guadalajara have enjoyed the better of this fixture of late and will have the psychological edge heading into Sunday's game. Nonetheless, we expect a close contest with the hosts just about coming out on top in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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