Matchday two of the Apertura Liga MX campaign begins with the reigning champions, Club America, hosting Queretaro on Friday at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes.
Both sides are seeking their first points of the new domestic season after America suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat to Atletico San Luis, while Los Albiazules lost by that same score against Club Tijuana.
Match preview
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It was not the beginning that many had anticipated from the defending league champions last weekend, as Millonetas squandered a fifth-minute advantage, losing a domestic encounter for the first time since April (2-1 to Pumas).
It is the fourth consecutive time that this team had failed to win their opening Apertura encounter, while that defeat on matchday one ended a seven-game unbeaten run for Andre Jardine's men across all competitions.
Losing matches in this competition has been rare for them over the past few seasons, and suffering consecutive domestic defeats even rarer, something they have not done since the 2022 Clausura campaign (three).
After being beaten 2-1 by Juarez in their opening Apertura fixture last season, America did not lose a single home game in either phase of the previous Liga MX campaign.
A big reason for their splendid 2023-24 domestic campaign was their staunch defence, conceding the fewest goals in both phases of this competition.
Meanwhile, they have only given up one goal in their previous three competitive matches played at Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes.
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Queretaro seem to have picked up where they left off at the end of the previous Clausura season, going winless now in four successive league contests.
Three of those matches wound up in defeat for Mauro Gerk's men, who have not scored an opening half goal since a 2-0 victory over Club Leon in April.
Of their five victories in the previous Apertura season, four of them occurred away from home, though they were beaten 2-0 by CD Guadalajara in their final road fixture of the recent Clausura campaign.
While they got their share of positive results away from home a season ago, Los Gallos Blancos were not consistent on the defensive side, conceding three or more goals on five occasions.
They are winless in their last seven matches versus America in either the Apertura or Clausura and have not beaten them away from home since 2017 (1-0).
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Team News
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Illian Hernandez will not be available to Club America until late October after breaking his leg, while Luis Malagon and Diego Valdes may not return until the end of the month because of muscle and foot injuries, respectively.
Henry Martin had the only goal for Aguilas on matchday one, his third in their last three encounters across all competitions.
Former America midfielder Alan Medina appeared in his first league fixture for Queretaro last weekend, while Francisco Venegas and Rubio Rubin also featured in the starting 11 for the first time.
Venezuelan midfielder Samuel Sosa, currently on loan from Talleres in the Argentine Primera Division, had their only goal on matchday one.
Club America possible starting lineup:
Cota; Lara, Araujo, Juarez, Calderon; E. Sanchez, Dos Santos; Lozano, Fidalgo, Zendejas; Martin
Queretaro possible starting lineup:
Allison; Mendoza, Manzanarez, Venegas, Ortiz; Cisneros, Escamilla, Lertora, Medina; Sosa, Rubin
We say: Club America 1-0 Queretaro
America won the league last season in part because they bounced back quickly after a defeat, and we expect to see their resilience shine through at home, where they are usually at their best.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
