Preview: Pachuca vs Queretaro - prediction, team news, lineups

In their home opener of the 2026-27 Liga MX Apertura campaign, Pachuca will welcome Queretaro to Estadio Hidalgo on Sunday.

On matchday one last week, Pachuca defeated Pumas 3-0, while Gallos Blancos were beaten 1-0 at home to Club America.

Match preview

Benjamin Mora began his tenure as the Pachuca manager about as well as he could have hoped with his side earning a convincing triumph over this year’s Clausura finalists.

The former Queretaro boss will hope to earn his first home triumph this weekend, which would end a two-match losing run at Estadio Hidalgo for this team in the Apertura.

Meanwhile, they have a chance to win their home opener in this portion of the domestic campaign for a second successive occasion after blanking Monterey 3-0 on matchday one of their 2025 Apertura season.

Pachuca can stretch their winning run at Estadio Hidalgo to three matches with a triumph on Sunday, with those last two home victories occurring during the 2026 Clausura playoffs.

In 2026, they have not dropped a single point when netting first in a competitive fixture, posting four successive clean sheets when doing so.

Tuzos have not beaten Queretaro at home in the Apertura since July 2022, earning a 2-0 triumph on that occasion.

For a third successive time, Queretaro have begun an Apertura campaign with a loss, conceding in the latter stages against Club America last week.

This weekend they will hope to avoid losing their first away match in this competition for a third consecutive occasion, falling 1-0 to Club Tijuana in their first Apertura affair on the road last year.

That said, they could win two straight Apertura affairs away from home this weekend, after edging out Juarez 2-1 on the final matchday of this competition in 2025.

Esteban Gonzalez will hope to see his team can get in the win column on Sunday, which would extend their unbeaten run in Liga MX away from home to five matches, having won their final Clausura affair as the visitors this year, 2-1 at Puebla.

They only earned two triumphs away from home in the last Apertura campaign, while suffering two defeats by a single goal.

On Sunday they can extend their unbeaten run versus Pachuca to six games in Liga MX, winning their last visit to Estadio Hidalgo last September 2-0.

Pachuca Liga MX form:

Queretaro Liga MX form:

Team News

A right knee injury is likely to keep Andres Micolta on the Pachuca sidelines this weekend, and Israel Luna is out due to a cruciate ligament injury.

Salomon Rondon had a brace for them on matchday one, with their other strike coming courtesy of Elias Montiel.

Among the new faces at Queretaro that saw the field on matchday one were Paraguayan Enzo Gimenez and Brazilian Paulo Victor, with Juan Cazares getting the start on the left side of midfield.

Santiago Homenchenko notched the winner the last time they faced his former team, Pachuca last year, with current Atlante midfielder Jhojan Julio also scoring and goalkeeper Guillermo Allison collecting a clean sheet.

Pachuca possible starting lineup:

Moreno; Mozo, Bauermann, Barreto, Isais; Montiel, Rivera; Dominguez, Pizarro, Idrissi; Rondon

Queretaro possible starting lineup:

Allison; Duarte, Reyes, Abascia, Victor; Gimenez, Homenchenko, Adriano, Cazares; Avila, Coronel

We say: Pachuca 2-0 Queretaro

Queretaro have a lot of new faces, and it may take time for them to gel, while Pachuca seem to be clicking and will take away plenty of confidence from their matchday one performance.

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