After making a winning start to the Liga MX season last week, Pumas will look to make it two on the bounce on Sunday when they welcome Mazatlan in the second round of league fixtures.
The hosts got the better of Club Tijuana on Saturday, while their visitors met Pachuca and will hope for a first victory at the second time of asking.
Match preview
Pumas headed into the new Liga MX season on the back of a particularly underwhelming campaign last time around, as they firstly missed out on the final phase of the Apertura stage, having finished 16th in the table with just 14 points from their 17 outings.
They would then turn their focus to the Clausura competition with the hopes of at least finishing in the top 12 to earn a place in the reclassification phase, and they held 12th spot until the final round of games, only to drop out with a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Monterrey.
After that disappointment, Antonio Mohamed's side would regroup and build towards the new season, beginning with a trip to Club Tijuana on Saturday, and they enjoyed a positive start, going ahead through Ulises Rivas in the 25th minute.
Fernando Madrigal would equalise for their visitors on the stroke of half time and Carlos Gonzalez scored soon after the break to put Tijuana in the ascendancy, but Juan Dinenno again levelled the game in the 70th minute, before Eduardo Salvio popped up with a decisive goal in the dying embers to snatch all three points for the Auriazules.
Now on a high from that late turnaround, Pumas will hope to build on their opening-day victory and establish themselves in the leading pack in the Apertura this term by extending a winning run to start the campaign.
They meet a visiting side who are also desperate for improvement this term after a particularly dismal campaign in the Liga MX last time around.
Mazatlan finished the Apertura phase in 14th spot, two places and three points better off than Sunday's opponents but two points shy of a top-12 finish and a reclassification place.
Hoping to build on that and crack the top 12 at the second time of asking, they had a particularly tough time, remaining rooted to the foot of the table throughout as they lost 14 of their 17 outings while only managing two victories.
The season culminated in three consecutive defeats to Tijuana, Monterrey and Guadalajara at the back end of April, leaving them having conceded 41 goals in the 17 Clausura matches, and after the two-month layoff, they returned to action and kicked off the new term at home to Pachuca on Saturday.
After going behind on the stroke of half time following Lucas Di Yorio's goal, Ismael Rescalvo's side drew level through Eduard Bello on the hour mark, and while they were unable to find a winner, they do now head into the second round of games with a point on the board and the hopes of coming out of top in their trip to Pumas.
- W
- D
Team News
Following their opening-day victory away at Tijuana, Pumas could come into Sunday's game with an unchanged starting XI, in Mohamed's preferred 4-4-2 setup.
Juan Dinenno will again lead the line after opening his account for the campaign in that contest, having notched up 14 in 34 Liga MX appearances last time around.
He will partner Gustavo del Prete up front, with Cesar Huerta and fellow scorer Eduardo Salvio offering support from the wings, while Ulises Rivas and Jose Caicedo should both keep their places in midfield.
Mazatlan could also stick with an unchanged 4-4-2 setup, with Nicolas Benedetti set to spearhead the attack after he notched up a team-high tally of seven league goals last season.
He will be partnered by Luis Amarilla, while winger Eduard Bello will hope to again cause problems after netting their equaliser last time out.
Elsewhere, Di Yorio should certainly stick with an unaltered back four of Bryan Colula, Facundo Almada, Nestor Vidrio and Jair Diaz after their solid display on the road last Saturday.
Pumas possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Bennevendo, Natan, Ortiz, Aldrete; Salvio, Rivas, Caicedo, Huerta; Dinenno, Del Prete
Mazatlan possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Colula, Almada, Vidrio, Diaz; Bello, Intriago, Montano, Medina; Amarilla, Benedetti
We say: Pumas 2-1 Mazatlan
Pumas will have confidence from an impressive opening-day victory, and Sunday presents a good opportunity to make it two wins from to kick off their bid to reach the later Apertura rounds this term.
On home turf, we see them having enough to outclass Mazatlan and take all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
