PUEBLA, Mexico – Herculez Gomez and his Santos Laguna side face their biggest game of the season so far when Club América visit the Estadio Corona on Friday (10:30 pm ET, Univision Deportes).
Gomez has started all seven league game this Clausura, but the return of Mexico international Oribe Peralta from injury will likely have repercussions for the American forward, who may be shifted to the wing.
Jose “Gringo” Torres has hit a patch of good form with new team Tigres, but the Monterrey outfit faces a tough test Saturday when they travel to Mexico City to play Cruz Azul (6 pm ET, Azteca America).
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Torres, who is likely to start, stressed that patience in build-up play will be key to the game for the league leaders in a press conference earlier in the week.
Club Tijuana returned triumphant from a midweek Copa Libertadores match in Colombia at midweek to confront Atlante at home on Saturday (10 pm ET, Galavision). Coach Antonio Mohamed has been open in saying that Libertadores is the priority for his team and Edgar Castillo and Joe Corona may be rested for the league game.
Greg Garza had complications with his ankle injury picked up at the end of last year, but played one half of the exhibition game against the LA Galaxy midweek and could feature in his first competitive game of 2013.
READ: Castillo stars in Tijuana's historic Libertadores win
Puebla duo DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Orozco Fiscal head north to face Monterrey in the Estadio Tecnológico looking to consolidate their place in the playoff positions against the struggling Rayados (10 pm ET, UniMás)
In the Ascenso MX, Marco Vidal’s Lobos BUAP play Estudiantes Tecos in Guadalajara (Friday, 8:30 pm ET), Sonny Guadarrama’s Mérida travel to Correcaminos (Saturday, 9:30 pm ET) and Jesus Padilla and his La Piedad team host league leaders Universidad de Guadalajara (Sun, 1:30 pm ET).
In Costa Rica, Texan Moises Hernandez’s Deportivo Saprissa take on Limón (Saturday, 9 pm ET).
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
