3 Tijuana (Mexico) vs New York Red Bulls (USA)

Tijuana and New York both defeated Honduran sides in the first round, and thus neither team played has played a true road game yet (remember that Honduran hosted matches were played at neutral sites).

For Tijuana, the prospect of going to Red Bull Arena is far from scary: it’s become a bit infamous of late after many USA fans used a lack of home support as the reason that the USMNT lost to Costa Rica. While that notion is completely absurd, it is true that the Red Bulls have never drawn great attendance to CCL matches, and it’s quite possible the atmosphere will be lacking.

On the flip side, the Red Bulls will have a bit more to deal with in Tijuana. Although far from the most intimidating crowd in Mexico, Xolos always are tough to match at the Estadio Caliente, and a lot more people will actually be there.

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What does New York bring to the table? Goal machine Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his first of the tournament against Olimpia and will be looking to add to that tally here. The new look Red Bulls midfield, which is down one Sacha Kljestan, looked plenty capable of creating chances, which is a good sign for New York.

New York also didn’t play on the opening weekend of MLS, so they will be fully rested and ready to go on Tuesday night.

Tijuana’s problems with scoring goals seem to have lessened in recent weeks. They just put three past Lobos BUAP in a Liga MX match and were able to get a goal in each game against Motagua in the first round. Not exactly record-shattering numbers, but it’s an improvement over the early season rate.

One player to highlight for Tijuana: Gibrán Lajud. He’s been a solid keeper for a while, showing the occasional flash of brilliance, but in 2018 he has really turned it up a notch. He has probably been the best goalie in Liga MX so far this season, and he could definitely play a big role in this series.