Santos Laguna and Houston Dynamo square off at the Shell Energy Stadium in a 2023 Leagues Cup fixture on Tuesday (July 25).
Houston kickstarted their campaign with a penalty shootout defeat against Orlando City at the weekend. Amine Bassey put Orlando ahead in first half injury time nefore Duncan McGuire levelled matters at the start of the second half to share the spoils.
As per the rules of the competition, both sides proceeded to penalties for an extra point, with Orlando winning the shootout 5-4. The defeat left the Dynamo in second spot in Group 9 on one point.
Santos, meanwhile, are yet to get into action in the Leagues Cup. They're coming off a goalless draw at home against FC Atlas in the Liga MX a fortnight ago and followed that up with a 2-1 friendly defeat to Gijon.
Houston are technically the hosts in this game, but their struggles over the last few weeks means home advantage might not count for much. A defeat for the Texas outfit would bring their Leagues Cup campaign to an early end, so they will look to do their best to avoid this outcome.
Santos, for their part, are about to start their campaign. They have an opportunity to climb straight to the summit of the group with a win. The Mexican side got the better of Houston when the two sides met a decade ago, but the spoils could be shared here.
Prediction: Santos 1-1 Houston (Santos to win on penalties)
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Tip 2 - Both teams to score
Tip 3 - Under 2.5 goals
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