New York City FC will face Club Santos Laguna in its Leagues Cup opener on Thursday night at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey. Here is your NYCFC vs Santos Laguna preview.
• League Form: L-L-L
• Record: 0W, 0D, 3L | 0 points, 17th place
• Scoring Leader: Eduardo Aguirre, 1 goal
• Assist Leader: Felipe Sánchez, 1 assist
1. Stuck in a slump
Santos Laguna finished dead last in the Liga MX Clausura last season, totaling just three wins in 17 games with a -13 goal difference.
Currently sitting second-to-last (17th) in the Apertura, Santos Laguna has lost all three games with a -5 goal difference. After losing 3-2 to CF Monterrey in the first match of the season, the club was held scoreless in its last two games and conceded four goals.
Santos Laguna is towards the bottom of the league in several stats: 0.70 goals per game (16th), 2.30 goals conceded per game (16th), and seven big chances missed (second).
2. New head coach
Santos Laguna fired head coach Francisco in February and replaced him with Renato Paiva, who previously coached at Fortaleza, Bahia, and Botafogo in Brazil, as well as Toluca and Leon in Mexico and Independiente del Valle in Ecuador.
The 56-year-old hasn't had much success in his coaching career, but he did win a league title with Independiente del Valle in 2021 and won 31 of the 60 games he coached, good for 1.78 points per game.
At his last club, Fortaleza, Paiva had just one win in 10 matches and was fired after 46 days in the role.
