The opening matchday of the 2023-24 Liga MX campaign will conclude on Monday when Club Leon welcome CD Guadalajara to Estadio Leon.
Last season, Chivas went unbeaten in their Apertura and Clausura affairs versus Leon, shutting them out 2-0 in their previous visit to Guanajuato, as they finished four points above La Fiera in the second-half table.
Match preview
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June was a month worth celebrating for Leon as they captured their first CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) trophy, upsetting the reigning Major League Soccer champions Los Angeles FC in the final, 3-1 on aggregate.
That was their second title on the international stage over the past three years, and Nicolas Larcamon has had nearly a month to savour that victory while preparing for the upcoming domestic campaign, where they are expected to contend for the Apertura title.
Their defensive rigidity made them successful in the Clausura portion of the previous campaign as they gave up a league-low 13 goals in 17 matches, 16 fewer than in the opening round.
A slow start in the first phase of this competition last season proved costly as they could only claim one victory in their opening 10 Apertura fixtures, though they went unbeaten in their final four domestic home games.
They were only able to claim two points when faced with a second-half deficit in the Apertura last season, though Leon only suffered two defeats when scoring first in the 2022-23 opening phase.
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After coming tantalisingly close to capturing a first domestic title since 2017, Guadalajara will enter the 2023-24 season as the favourites to win this competition.
The opening half of the Apertura campaign in 2022-23 was rough for Veljko Paunovic as he failed to win his first nine matches in charge, though his team collected points in six of their final eight fixtures.
That momentum carried over into the Clausura season, as they only suffered three defeats and wound up third, their highest finish in the second half of a domestic campaign since 2016-17, when they wound up in that same position.
While the Leon backline were one of the most difficult to penetrate in the Clausura last season, the Chivas attack was one of the toughest to contain, scoring the fifth-most goals (28) in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign, including multiple times in their final two away fixtures.
They managed to claim at least a point in five of their eight away fixtures in the Apertura last season while only suffering one road defeat in the second half of the campaign, winning their final Clausura encounter at Leon 2-0.
Team News
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David Ramirez could miss the early portion of the campaign for Leon as he is dealing with a hip injury, while Federico Vinas will have plenty of expectations on his shoulders, with the Best Young Player at the 2021 CCL tournament signing from America over the summer.
Victor Davila had a combined nine goals in both stages of their domestic campaign a season ago, Ivan Moreno was tied for third in the league for assists with a total of four, while Rodolfo Cota led Liga MX with nine clean sheets.
Davila won the Golden Ball as the best player during their run to the Champions League title, as he, Elias Hernandez, Fidel Ambriz, Moreno and Adonis Frias were named to the Team of the Tournament.
Guadalajara winger Alexis Vega was withdrawn from the Mexican Gold Cup squad due to a knee sprain, while Carlos Cisneros and Jose Juan Macias may not be available for the foreseeable future having each incurred cruciate ligament ruptures.
Victor Guzman is coming off a seven-goal season in 2022-23, Miguel Jimenez collected five clean sheets over that same period, while there are rumours that former Pachuca star Erick Gutierrez, who previously captured the Clausura and CCL title while at that club, could be moving from PSV Eindhoven to Chivas.
In their previous visit to Leon last season, Vega set up the only two goals of the match, which came courtesy of Pavel Perez and Fernando Gonzalez as Jimenez picked up the shutout.
Club Leon possible starting lineup:
Cota; Moreno, Barreiro, Frias, O. Rodriguez; Mena, Romero, Ambriz; Davila, Vinas, Rubio
CD Guadalajara possible starting lineup:
Jimenez; Mozo, Sepulveda, Orozco, Calderon; Gonzalez; Brizuela, Beltran, Guzman, Alvarado; Rios
We say: Club Leon 1-1 CD Guadalajara
It is the opening match of the season for these two sides, so we anticipate it may be a cagier affair given how long it has been since either have played a competitive game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
