LIGA MX
Chivas Guadalajara attack among worst in Liga MX Clausura 2023
Chivas head coach Veljko Paunovic promised attacking football in preseason, but so far Guadalajara have failed to click going forward.
Almost a third of the Clausura 2023 tournament has now been played, and Veljko Paunovic’s Chivas Guadalajara continue to misfire up front. Having scored just five times in five games, Los Rojiblancos have the sixth-worst attack in the Liga MX.
Which clubs have scored fewer than Chivas?
The only teams that have been less productive going forward are Cruz Azul (17th in the table), Club León (13th) and Tijuana (14th) - the trio have managed three goals - and Querétaro (16th) and Mazatlán (18th), who have four each. Of those five teams, Cruz Azul, León and Querétaro have played one game less.
The clubs with a worse goal record than Chivas are five of the six that are currently outside the playoff zone. Guadalajara’s five goals have been enough to earn them eight points and leave them seventh in the table. What has helped the 12-time Mexican champions is their good defence, which has only conceded four times.
Only one game has brought more than one Guadalajara goal
El Rebaño Sagrado has only once managed to score more than one goal in a single game: their 2-1 victory over FC Juárez. In the three clashes in which they have netted once, they have registered a win (1-0 over Monterrey), a draw (1-1 with Querétaro) and a defeat (2-1 to Toluca). In addition, they played out a goalless with Atlético de San Luis. Although an attacking team was seen in the preseason, their numbers in front of goal have proved underwhelming.
Chivas’ list of Clausura 2023 scorers is short: Alexis Vega, Víctor Guzmán (penalty), Carlos Cisneros and Alejandro Mayorga each have one, and Toluca’s Valber Huerta contributed an own goal. No-one else within the squad has managed to get on the scoresheet. Of their five goals, none have been scored by a centre-forward.
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Paunovic failing to follow through on attacking pledge
During the preseason, Paunovic spoke of his desire to create a team that plays forward-thinking football, by populating the penalty area with up to five players at a time, and pushing the full-backs up the flanks to allow the team to attack with up to seven players. So far, however, this has not been reflected on the pitch. After five games, Chivas’ attacking stats do not make for positive reading.