Puebla vs Cruz Azul Predictions

Saturday’s Liga MX Clausura action sees Puebla doing battle with Cruz Azul. The visitors arrive as big favourites to claim all 3 points and are expected to do exactly that at the Estadio Cuauhtemoc.

With Veracruz having performed so badly in the opening phase of the campaign, Puebla’s 20 point haul in the Apertura is enough to stave off the threat of relegation for another year. La Franja are clearly not one of Mexican football’s real powerhouses but with limited resources, merely staying in the top flight ranks as good going for the side.

However, Puebla were hardly stunning in the Apertura phase, finishing 12th and 6 points short of the play-offs and they’re highly unlikely to mount an assault on the top 8 in this Clausura phase. The hosts don’t arrive with any real momentum behind them either, having won just 1 of their last 9 outings and confidence isn’t particularly high going into Saturday’s game as a result.

Meanwhile, Cruz Azul will be looking to make up for Apertura phase heartbreak by gunning for the Clausura phase title in the coming months. La Maquina were outstanding over the first half of the campaign; topping the regular standings before eliminating Queretaro and Monterrey in the play-offs, only to be denied by local rivals Club America in the final.

Nonetheless, Pedro Caixinha has done a good job at the club and has transformed the team into a very powerful force that will be desperate to kick things off with a win on Saturday. Having won 4 of their last 6 away games, that’s something the side will certainly be confident in achieving and they won’t be travelling with any apprehension present.

Ultimately, there’s a big gap in terms of quality between the two and we cannot envisage Cruz Azul dropping points. They hammered Puebla 3-0 in the opening phase and with Puebla having ranked as the second worst team defensively in said stage, conceding an average of 1.76 goals a game, the visitors shouldn’t find it too difficult to find joy in the final third.

As such, we really like the look of the price available on the away win and are more than happy to get behind it. These two outfits will almost certainly finish at opposite ends of the table and the difference between them should be apparent on the pitch; with a 2-1 Cruz Azul win on the cards.