First place in West 3 will be on the line Sunday at CityPark when St Louis City host Juarez in the final Leagues Cup group fixture for both teams.
A 2-1 victory over Dallas in the opening match for St Louis and a 2-0 triumph by Los Bravos against the Toros means they are each assured a place in the knockout round.
Match preview
Despite suffering an early setback in their first Leagues Cup encounter this year, St Louis persevered, winning their first-ever match of the competition.
Thanks to the Juarez victory versus Dallas earlier this week, they have advanced beyond the group stage of an international club tournament for the first time.
In five encounters this season across all competitions, this team have earned a positive result when conceding the opening goal, with their match last Saturday against Dallas being the only time this year that they went on to win after going behind 1-0.
St Louis City have emerged victorious in two of their previous three competitive fixtures played at CityPark, scoring twice in both of those triumphs.
On Sunday, interim manager John Hackworth has a chance to guide this team to consecutive victories for the first time in 2024.
This will only be their second-ever meeting versus a Liga MX opponent, and the first one was a forgettable outing for St Louis City, who were beaten 4-0 in the 2023 Leagues Cup by Club America.
After a series of narrow defeats heading into this tournament, Juarez were finally on the right side of a scoreline against Dallas, ending a four-match losing run in all competitions, counting friendlies and Liga MX affairs.
Juarez had lost their last four games by a single goal before their victory versus the Toros and in doing so collected their first triumph away from home since defeating Mazatlan 2-0 in April.
Mauricio Barbieri's men registered nine efforts on target Wednesday as they remain unbeaten in group play at this tournament, winning their last two matches at this stage by a combined margin of 5-1.
This weekend, they have an opportunity to win consecutive games for the first time since matchday 13 and 14 of the 2024 Clausura campaign.
Los Bravos have never been behind after 45 minutes in any of their group matches at this tournament, though their triumph on Wednesday was the first time that they had won a Leagues Cup contest in normal time when leading at the half.
They have never been held off the scoresheet in three previous meetings versus MLS clubs, with both of their victories occurring when netting multiple times.
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Team News
Last weekend, St Louis were missing Joakim Nilsson due to a knock, Joao Klauss and Rasmus Alm were sidelined with knee injuries, while Celio Pompeu and Tomas Ostrak are out for the season because of a leg and Achilles tendon issue, respectively.
Indiana Vassilev was back on the field after previously hurting his nose, while Tim Parker and Kyle Hiebert are both on yellow cards and may be rested to avoid a potential suspension.
Simon Becher, Cedric Teuchert and Marcel Hartel all made their St Louis City debuts versus Dallas, with the two Germans finding the back of the net to propel them to victory.
On Wednesday, Juarez did not have Diego Valoyes at their disposal because of a hamstring strain, and Manuel Castro sat out due to an ACL injury.
Bryan Romero and Jesus Venegas were both unavailable, and neither are expected to be ready for this upcoming contest as they are recovering from knee issues.
Angel Zaldivar netted the winner after 22 minutes against the Toros, with an Aviles Hurtado penalty giving them a little insurance in the latter stages.
St Louis City possible starting lineup:
Burki; Totland, Girdwood-Reid, Markanich, Reid; Durkin, Lowen, Thorisson, Teuchert, Hartel; Becher
Juarez possible starting lineup:
Jurado; Abella, Mosquera, Calvo, Orquin; D. Garcia, Campillo; Hurtado, Villalpando, A. Garcia; Zaldivar
We say: St Louis City 0-1 Juarez
Overall, Juarez look sharper and more consistent in all areas of the field when compared to St Louis, and we expect that consistency will carry them to victory this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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