DC United and Mazatlan will look to advance to the round of 16 of the Leagues Cup 2024 when they meet this Friday, August 9 at Audi Field in Washington. It will be the first time that these two teams will face each other.
Troy Lesesne's team comes in as the best offense in the tournament, tied at first place with Portland, with six goals. They scored three times in their two first round matches and in their most recent match against Santos Laguna at Subaru Park, they did not allow a goal.
Belgian striker Christian Benteke is one of the top scorers in this edition with two goals so far and could be the difference maker in this match for United. The African-born player has had a very good season in MLS and ranks second in the league with 16 goals, just one behind Cristian Arango.
In their first game of this tournament they conceded three goals to Atlanta United, so they must pay special attention to their defense, as it has allowed the most goals in the regular season of the local league, having conceded 50 goals. The match against Santos was the first of their last 21 in which they have not conceded a goal.
The squad from the U.S. capital hopes to improve on last year's performance, when they also advanced to the second round, but were eliminated on penalties by the Philadelphia Union after a scoreless draw in regular time.
Mazatlan continued its losing streak in the Liga MX at the start of this tournament and debuted with a 1-0 loss to the New England Revolution, but managed to advance to the next round with a 2-0 win over Nashville SC with two goals from midfielder Ramiro Arciga Zarate.
The Cañoneros are in the second round of the tournament for the second consecutive year and, like their rivals, want to forget what happened in the previous edition. The purple team finished as group leader, but was surprisingly eliminated by FC Dallas 2-1 at Toyota Stadium.
Despite their win against Nashville SC, Ismael Rescalvo's men need to improve a lot offensively if they want to have a chance in this match, as their rivals have shown that they can score easily and if they go down on the scoreboard it could be very difficult to come from behind.
The winner of this match will face the team that advances from the game between Cruz Azul and Orlando City in the next round.
