Chivas have played Pachuca three times, most notably during the first Liga MX Femenil final on November 2017, in which Chivas bounced back from a 2-0 loss on the first leg to win the championship with a 3-0 win at Estadio Akron. The league’s group format prevented both teams from facing each other for 2 years, until last November, when Chivas prevailed yet again with a 2-1 win at Pachuca’s Estadio Hidalgo during Jornada 19 of the Apertura 2019 season.
Chivas come into this match with a better record than Pachuca, being one of five teams who remain undefeated, although this is the first round in which they face any of last season’s top 8 teams. Pachuca’s season start has been a mixed bag, with wins against León and Juárez, a loss to Rayadas, and quite unexpectedly, to Atlético de San Luis. At home, Chivas have 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss on their last 5 matches, while Pachuca have 3 wins and 2 defeats on their last 5 away games.
Both teams will have to change their lineups, as they will be missing key players due to Mexican national team call-ups (Janelly Farías and María Sánchez from Chivas, and Karla Nieto from Pachuca are playing the Concacaf Olympic qualifiers with the senior team, while Chivas have Nicole Pérez, Joseline Montoya, and Anette Vázquez on u-20 duty, joined by Pachuca’s Julieta Peralta, Fátima Arellano, and Yanín Madrid).
It also remains to be seen whether Chivas’s coach Ramón Villa Zevallos will field the 4-3-3 formation he used during the season’s first 2 matches (as well as during the whole of the Apertura 2019), or the 4-4-2 he’s switched to on the last 2 games. Pachuca’s coach Eva Espejo has deployed 4-3-3, 4-4-2, and 4-4-1-1 formations on their last 4 matches.
Season Comparison:
- Rank: 4
- 2 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses (goal diff. +3)
- Goals scored: 8
- Goals conceded: 5
- Last match played: Atlético de San Luis 0-2 Chivas
- Rank: 10
- 2 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses (goal diff. +3)
- Goals scored: 8
- Goals conceded: 5
- Last match played: FC Juárez 0-3 Pachuca