Tijuana Xolos seek third win of the season vs. tough Toluca side
Credit: LIGA MX
Game: Tijuana Xolos vs Toluca
Where: Estadio Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico
When: Friday, Sept. 15
Time: 8:00 p.m. PST
TV: Fubo TV, TUDN.com, TUDN App
The Tijuana Xolos are coming off their second win of the 2023 Liga MX Apertura season after a league ruling gave Club Tijuana a win over Puebla due to Puebla not having their assistant coach registered in the Liga MX.
The border city team had lost that game originally 3-0 in Puebla, but now the Aztec Canines have added three points from that game.
This Friday, Sept.15, the Border City Dogs will host Toluca in what is set to be a very hard-fought match at the Estadio Caliente. Tijuana’s only “real” win of the season came at the Estadio Caliente, a 2-1 win over Cruz Azul on July 14. The Xoloitzcuintles have added some players in the last week, as Efrain Alvarez and Domingo Blanco have joined the club. Both are offensive-minded midfielders who were brought in to help the offensive production of Miguel Herrera’s team.
Despite the “technical” win over Puebla, the Prehistoric Canines still have a lot of work to do in nearly every aspect of their game. Antonio Rodriguez is coming off international duty with the Mexico national team, and he remains as the lone bright spot on this bleak team.
The potential is there for Club Tijuana to improve, but it will be tough moving forward and on Friday night. Toluca is arguably the toughest opponent the Tijuana Xolos have faced all season, as the team from Mexico state is currently fifth on the Liga MX table.
Toluca has an electric attack, coming off a monumental 5-0 thrashing against Pachuca. “Los Diablos Rojos” even have a goalkeeper that can score in, Tiago Volpi, who is the team’s penalty-kick taker. Toluca’s attack includes players like Maxi Araujo, Pedro Raul, Jean Meneses, and Juan Pablo Dominguez. Araujo is just coming off international duty with Uruguay and is arguably Toluca’s best player, with sights of Europe for him in the near future.
Toluca manager Ignacio Ambriz implements a very aggressive and offensive-minded style of play, and it will be intriguing to see if he deploys it in this match. Miguel Herrera potentially can try and go toe-to-toe with Ambriz but also has the option to play a more cautious playing style at home.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.