Oppo Research: 5 Things about Tigres UANL

In this edition of Oppo Research, Hudson River Blue spoke with Eric Gomez of ESPN to learn more about Tigres, New York City FC's opponent in the Round of 16 of the Leagues Cup at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday night. Here is your NYCFC vs Tigres preview.

1. Tigres is well-run

Hudson River Blue: After losing the Supercopa MX final in June, Tigres are undefeated in their last seven and are on a five-game winning streak. What led to the team's dominance, and is there any chance they will slow down?

Eric Gomez: Tigres is one of CONCACAF’s best-built sides. They have talent from top to bottom, and they’re insanely deep. One clear example of this is that when starting goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán went down to injury earlier this year, Tigres went out and secured Fernando Tapia on loan. Tapia is a promising prospect at goalkeeper for the Mexican national team and was the hero for Querétaro during last year’s Leagues Cup and their daring run.

Furthermore, the team appears to have finally gotten it right at the managerial position, hiring Veljko Paunovic, the former Chicago Fire coach who did quite well in his first Liga MX run with Chivas, taking that team to the finals in 2023.

Paunovic’s possession-based style works wonders for this team, as their combination of talented midfielders and deadly striker combo of André-Pierre Gignac and Nico Ibañez up front works best with a style suited to dominating the ball and pinning teams back as much as possible.

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2. Tigres' possession style of play leads to defensive stability

HRB: In that seven-game run, Tigres only conceded three goals. The backline has experience, but what else has led to the team’s rock-solid defense as of late?

EG: Again, when you have the ball for most of the match – you can dictate play and limit the opposition’s chances. A possession-based strategy works best when you have defenders who are able to push up front and maintain their line when drifting back with speed and positional awareness. The current centerback pairing of Guido Pizarro and Diego Reyes can do just that, especially when aided by Rafael Carioca, the team’s most defensive-minded midfielder. The threat of Tigres countering with wingers Ozziel Herrera and Sebastián Córdova is enough for many teams to opt for conservative buildup, which essentially means they’re limiting defensive danger themselves.

3. Marcelo Flores, Sebastián Córdova are ones to watch

HRB: French forward André-Pierre Gignac is always a threat, but who else on this Tigres side should NYCFC look out for?

EG: 20-year-old Marcelo Flores is on a heater, scoring in Liga MX, CONCACAF Champions Cup and Leagues Cup so far this year. Though he didn’t get any playing time at this year’s Copa América, he remains a massive prospect for El Tri moving forward, and is starting to show why Arsenal took a shot on him and developed the Canadian-born attacking midfielder before eventually selling him to Tigres. Córdova has especially found himself connecting with Flores and Gignac, and is just as easily prone to assisting either player or scoring himself via a dazzling run or mid-distance strike. Ibañez is a classic center forward who complements Gignac quite well or can sub for him and take advantage of a tired defense. And Juan Brunetta, who initially disappointed as a big transfer signing last season – has come on in the absence of Diego Lainez, occupying a role in the midfield and scoring against the likes of Inter Miami in this tournament alone.

4. The X-Factor: The fullbacks

HRB: What’s the X-factor that could decide this game?

EG: I’ve spoken glowingly about Tigres’ goalkeeper, midfielders, offensive setup and their two centerbacks, but not a word yet about their fullbacks. That’s because Javier Aquino, though incredibly experienced and smart at 34, has definitely lost a step especially when defending. On the other side, Jesus Angulo is much more prone to helping out on attack than he is at stopping players drifting down the left flank on defense. If NYCFC is able to spread their attack dangerously, it could make life hard on the likes of Angulo and Aquino, forcing Tigres to come down and compress on defense much more than they’d like to. However, as previously discussed — Tigres will often times explode out of the back when regaining possession thanks to their own speed on the wings via players like Flores, Herrera or Luis Quiñones.

5. Predicted score, Starting XI

HRB: Prediction time: Starting XI? Final score?

EG: Tigres 2-2 NYCFC, Tigres through on penalty kicks.