Preview: Pachuca vs San Diego - prediction, team news, lineups

Matchday One of the 2025 Leagues Cup will see Pachuca and newcomers San Diego lock horns at Snapdragon Stadium this Tuesday.

This year’s tournament will take on a new structure, featuring 36 teams across Mexico and the United States’s top tiers all vying for a spot in the quarter-finals – four from Major League Soccer and four from Liga MX.

Match preview

The 2025 Leagues Cup was designed to feature the top eighteen ranked teams from the 2024-25 Liga MX and the 18 clubs that participated in the MLS playoffs last term, though San Diego’s inclusion came by exception.

Despite qualifying, Vancouver Whitecaps FC will not take part in this year’s tournament due to their involvement in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, having earned their place by winning the 2024 Canadian Championship, which exceeds the permitted number of major tournaments allowed for an MLS club.

In their place, expansion franchise San Diego were granted a spot in line with Major League Soccer’s policy of granting a new entrant the chance to compete on the international stage from the onset – a move aimed at accelerating their exposure and long-term growth.

SDFC have defied all expectations in their debut top-flight campaign, currently sitting top of the Western Conference on 46 points with nine regular-season fixtures still to play, so they head into this tournament with a strong reputation already taking shape after just six months of competition.

With teams facing three opponents from the opposite league, Mikey Varas’s side will take on UANL on matchday two before wrapping up their group stage campaign against Mazatlán.

Meanwhile, Pachuca will face Los Angeles FC on matchday two before concluding their group matches with a clash against Houston Dynamo FC but will be keen to hit the ground running on Tuesday in an attempt to avoid yet another early exit.

The Mexican giants crashed out at the first hurdle in their last two appearances in the competition, falling on penalties to Houston in 2023 before being edged 1-0 by Tigres last term.

By their lofty standards, the 2024-25 campaign was underwhelming, with a 16th-place finish in the Apertura and an eighth-place standing in the Clausura, compounded by a last-place finish in their 2025 FIFA Club World Cup group.

However, since returning from the 32-team showpiece held in the United States, Tuzos have looked rejuvenated, piecing together back-to-back victories to open their 2025-26 Liga MX campaign.

Pachuca’s most recent success came on Sunday as they edged past Mazatlan 1-0, a result that kept Jaime Lozano’s men top of the standings and sends them into Tuesday’s fixture with momentum firmly on their side.

Pachuca form (all competitions):

San Diego form (all competitions):

Team News

Pachuca will be without centre-back Andres Micolta due to a cruciate ligament issue, while winger Oussama Idrissi is also sidelined with ongoing physical discomfort.

Luis Quinones made an impact off the bench by netting the winner last time out and could be rewarded with a starting berth in this encounter.

Jhonder Cadiz has found the net twice in his last three outings and will once again lead the line as the team look to him for attacking inspiration on the night.

San Diego forward Hirving Lozano will come up against his boyhood club on Tuesday and will be brimming with confidence after netting the winner in a narrow 1-0 triumph over Nashville last time out.

The MLS side will enter this encounter without Anisse Saidi, Christopher McVey, Marcus Ingvartsen and William Kumado, with all four players sidelined by muscle-related injuries.

Pachuca possible starting lineup:

Moreno; Rodrigues, Eduardo, Barrelo, Aceves; Pedraza, Montiel; Dominguez, Bautista, Quinones; Cadiz

San Diego possible starting lineup:

Dos Santos; Verhoeven, McNair, Pilcher, Bombino; Valakari, Godoy, Tverskov; Dreyer, Gutierrez, Lozano

We say: Pachuca 2-2 San Diego

Although San Diego come into this encounter with slightly less momentum, having managed just one win from their last three matches (D1, L1), playing on home soil gives the California outfit a slight edge, and with Pachuca in strong form as well, a high-scoring draw looks likely.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.