LIGA MX

Chivas’ possible starting line-up vs Pumas in Apertura quarter-final first leg

Chivas Guadalajara open up their quest for glory in the Apertura 2023 playoffs against Pumas, who beat them at the end of the regular season.

Miguel PontonMEXSPORT

Chivas Guadalajara will be able to bring key players back into their team at Estadio Akron today, as Los Rojiblancos host Pumas in the first leg of the Apertura 2023 playoff quarter-finals.

Duo return after avoiding bans

Roberto Alvarado and Gilberto Sepúlveda are in line to start after missing Chivas’ final game of the regular season, also against Pumas. As the pair were both a booking away from incurring a one-match ban for accumulated yellow cards, head coach Veljko Paunovic opted to leave them out of the clash, which Pumas won 1-0.

Chiquete over injury

Chivas are also set to welcome back Jesús Orozco Chiquete, who looks to have shaken off a muscle injury that sidelined him for the final five games of the regular season. Judging by the squad’s training sessions this week, there have been doubts among the coaching staff about the defender’s fitness to start today’s last-eight opener; however, it now appears that he will be able to take his place in the line-up.

See also:

Back after lengthy post-regular season wait

Chivas and Pumas will both be seeing their first competitive action in nearly three weeks, since Los Universitarios beat the Guadalajarans on 12 November to leapfrog them into fourth in the regular-season standings.

The result had direct consequences on the teams’ quarter-final tie: it’s because they finished higher in the table that Pumas are away in the first leg, allowing them to enjoy home advantage in Sunday’s decisive return.

Chivas’ possible line-up vs Pumas

Miguel Jiménez; Alan Mozo, Gilberto Sepúlveda, Jesús Orozco Chiquete, Cristian Calderón; Rubén González, Fernando Beltrán, Erick Gutiérrez; Roberto Alvarado, Isaac Brizuela, Ricardo Marín.

Chivas vs Pumas: when, where, how to watch?

Chivas host Pumas at Estadio Akron today, Thursday 30 November 2023, with kick-off in Guadalajara scheduled for 10:05pm ET/7:05pm PT. TV viewers in the United States will be able to watch on Telemundo and Universo, and your streaming options include Peacock and fuboTV.

Enjoy the action live on fuboTV, which offers users a free trial.

Most viewed

More news