Enemy Scouting Report - Santos Laguna
(image via IMAGO7)
The Houston Dynamo are coming into their second Leagues Cup fixture against Santos Laguna from LigaMX after losing in penalties in Orlando. The Dynamo have a point in hand but tonight’s match is a must win for Ben Olsen and his squad in hopes to get out of the group stage and into the knockout round.
Santos Laguna is not a stranger for the Houston Dynamo, as both teams’ faced off 10 years ago in the 2012-13 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Santos Laguna were victorious in that tie with a 3-1 aggregate score line. Santos went on to make that year’s final but would lose against Rayados de Monterrey. Los Guerreros might no longer be the powerhouse team from 10 years ago, but Santos Laguna is always a dangerous team to face. The club’s manager, Pablo Repetto, was hired in April to help the team from Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico revitalized themselves and once again become a winning team in LigaMX. However, the start of the Apertura 2023 has not been the best as Santos has a record of one win, one loss and a draw in the first three matches of the Mexican short tournament.
The players that Houston will look to contain from Santos are Harold Preciado, Javier Correa, and Juan Brunetta. The Colombian striker, Preciado, was the top scorer for Santos in the 2023 Clausura with seven goals. He will be a player to watch in the final third of the field. Santos also has two Argentine play makers in Correa and Brunetta. Correa is a forward who is always hungry for goals, while Brunetta is the team’s creative midfielder that is glad to assist his teammates. Brunetta can alsostep up and find the back of the net as well. Houston will need to be defensively sound against very tough opposition.
Santos Laguna Season Record: 1W-1L-1D
Results in the last 30 days:
July 2 - Santos Laguna 0-2 Queretaro
July 7 - Puebla 2-3 Santos Laguna
July 13 - Santos Laguna 0-0 Atlas
July 16 - Santos Laguna 1-2 Sporting Gijon (friendly)
Past Match Staring XI (from foxsports.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2023 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Carlos Acevedo, Joel Garcia, Hector Holguin, Manuel Lajud, Santiago Noe Ramirez Acosta
Defenders: Doria, Jesus Gomez, Ismael Govea, Raul Lopez, Jaziel Orozco, Hugo Rodriguez, Felix Torres
Midfielders: Pedro Aquino, Juan Francisco Brunetta, Jordan Carrillo, Alan Cervantes, Omar Chagoya, Jair Gonzalez, Lucas Gonzalez, Aldo Lopez, Salvador Mariscal, Diego Medina, Ronaldo Prieto, Emerson Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Tejeda
Forwards: Javier Correa, Santiago Munoz, Jesus Ocejo, Eduardo Perez Reyes, Harold Preciado, Duvan Vergara
Will Houston be able to beat Santos Laguna and continue in the tournament?
