On the morning of the 6th, Pachuca landed a big punch at home, defeating Nikasha, and the victory pushed them up to the eighth seed and toward the final chapter of the playoffs. (Drums of war beat and the tournament kicked off at 9:00 a.m.)
In the regular season, the seventh-place team, Pachuca, had a lot of offensive firepower. In the last four rounds of the league, they have scored only two goals or less, and even against eighth-seeded Pumas, an opponent in the knockout rounds, they have failed to make a dent, often failing to score or even losing on penalty kicks. While Pumas took the lead in advancing to the playoffs, Pachuca will need to play another game to take a steady, step-by-step approach.
Regular-season ninth-placed Nikasha, on the other hand, were a threat on the offensive end, but when they met 10th-placed Querétaro in the knockout stage, neither side had anything to offer in regular time. In the end, they advanced in a thrilling penalty shootout. Nikasha has not had an easy time in their historical meetings with Pachuca. In the past four head-to-head meetings, the Nicaraguans have won one, drawn two and lost one, and in three of those matches, neither side has scored more than two goals. Both sides need to be careful in today's knockout match, and a 2.5 goal handicap seems to be a sensible choice.
