Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Liga MX clash between Pumas and Club Leon, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Pumas And Club Leon The Red Devils will bring the curtain down on their Liga MX campaign on Sunday when they take on the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in the first round of Apertura matches.
Both teams qualified for the final phase of the Apertura 2023-24 competition, while the hosts finished eighth in the aggregate standings, two places and seven points behind Sunday’s visitors.
Match Preview
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Pumas enter the 2024 Liga MX campaign looking to end a 13-year title drought in Mexico’s top flight, having last won in 2011 during the Clausura phase of the campaign.
The 2023-24 campaign was better for Universidad, as they first finished fourth in the Apertura table, booking an automatic place in the final phase and advancing to the semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate win over Guadalajara.
The Mexico team was then eliminated by Tigres, but then had a creditable run in the closing phase, progressing again in the league after an eighth-place finish and a play-in victory.
Gustavo LemaThe team ultimately fell short of a second consecutive semi-final appearance, with the season ending with a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Cruz Azul in May, extending their wait for a first visit to an Apertura or Clausura final since 2020, when they fell short in the opening phase of the campaign at the hands of Club Leon.
Returning to action after a short off-season, with optimism of last year’s improvement after a rut the year before, the Pumas will be desperate to get going again for the 2024-25 season and will be looking to make a winning start on Sunday to immediately place themselves among the Apertura leaders.
Club Leon, meanwhile, will also embark on Sunday on a quest to improve their Liga MX run, having reached just one final since their 2020 triumph over Pumas in the Apertura, taking their tally to eight titles in Mexico’s top flight.
The Panzas Verdes would advance to the next Apertura final in 2021, but narrowly failed to make it through in a penalty shootout against Atlas after a 3-3 aggregate draw, and they have since failed to qualify for the last four of either competition in the last two seasons, first failing twice in reclassification matches during the 2022-23 season.
Last year they made their return to the final stages of the Apertura competition, finishing eighth in the standings and losing 4-2 on aggregate to Club America in the quarter-finals, before more recently finishing the Clausura league campaign in 11th place and missing out on the finals altogether as a result.
Having turned to a new manager Jorge Bava With the end of the year approaching before this Clausura attempt, Club Leon will now embark on a first full season under the Uruguayan with the aim of making a marked improvement, starting with a victory on the opening day of their trip to Mexico City on Sunday.
Team News
Pumas have been without several key players for the remainder of their pre-season preparations due to the ongoing Copa America tournament, with midfielder Piero Quispe away with Peru and the goalkeeper Julio Gonzalezwinger Cesar Huerta and forward Guillermo Martinez Both nations are heading to Mexico, and while both nations have been eliminated from the competition, we have yet to see if they will return to action in time to compete in the opening match on Monday.
If they are not part of the starting eleven, Gil Alcala will replace the posts in the opening match, while the new player on loan from Monterrey Michel Rodriguez could start on the wing in the absence of Huerta, who led their scoring charts with 11 goals last season.
Somewhere else, Ali Avila And Rogelio Funes Mori will fight to lead the line if Martinez remains absent, while Jose Caicedo And Ulises Rivas are expected to continue their partnership at the base of midfield heading into the new campaign.
Club Leon is missing just one player for the Copa America, the winger Angel Mena and his Ecuador team were only knocked out of the competition by Argentina on Friday, and he will not return to the squad in time to start on Monday.
They can also be keyless before Federico Vinaswho missed the Copa America due to serious injury, after leading his team’s goalscoring charts with 16 goals last season, and newly arrived Ettson Ayon could come into play and lead the line from the start in Vinas’ absence.
Experienced central defender William Tesillo left during the offseason, which means Stiven Barreiro and and Paul Bellon should form a centre-back partnership heading into the new term, allowing Adonis Frias to join either Fidel Ambriz or veteran Andres Guardado at the base of the midfield.
Possible composition of the Pumas:
Alcala; J Rivas, Silva, Magallan, Monroy; Caicedo, U. Rivas; Suarez, Lopez, Rodriguez; Funes Mori
Possible composition of the starting eleven of Club Leon:
White; Moreno, Barreiro, Bellon, Villa; Frias, Guardado; War, Alvarado, Medina; Ayon
We say: Pumas 2-1 Club Leon
In what should certainly be a hard-fought encounter as both teams look to make a winning start to the season, we see Pumas having a bit more quality in their squad than Club Leon, even with several absentees, and we are backing them to come out on top with home advantage on Monday.
For data analysis on the most likely outcomes, scores and more for this match, please click here.
