After an extremely tight schedule, the Liga MX Apertura Tournament 2022 has ended in its regular phase to give way to the excitement of the final phase of the championship with the playoffs, where eight teams will try to get their pass to the quarterfinals of the Liguilla 2022 in a single match play-in.
América, Monterrey, Santos, and Pachuca finished in the TOP 4 of the general classification table, and qualified directly to the quarterfinals of the Liguilla, with an additional week’s rest, they will await their rivals for the round of the best 8.
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With 11 wins in its last 12 games played, América consolidated its position as the leader of the general classification table. América will have the most privileged place in this Liguilla and is considered the main favorite for the championship title. In addition to this, their rival will come out of the key where the worst teams in the playoffs are.
Santos Laguna, also awakening at the end of the season, managed to displace Pachuca and take third place in the table, while the Tuzos fell to fourth.
América will have the privilege of playing the second leg of every playoff at home. In addition, thanks to the first place in the table, it could also be a tie-breaker in their favor during the quarterfinals and semifinals.
The playoffs will pit the teams ranked 5th to 12th in the standings against the top 4 teams that will play at home in a single-leg playoff. In the event of a tie during the 90 minutes, the teams will play a penalty shootout to determine the club that advances to the Quarterfinals.
The playoff survivors will face the first 4 of the general table in the quarterfinals, with the crossings defined according to their position in a two-legged tie, with the leaders playing at home.
The teams that will be in the playoffs are:
- Tigres UANL
- Toluca
- Cruz Azul
- Puebla
- Guadalajara
- León
- Juárez
- Necaxa
Liga MX Playoffs – Preview – Tigres UANL vs. Necaxa – Info
When: Saturday, October 08 at 08:00 pm ET
Moneyline odds: Tigres UANL -173 / Necaxa +490 (Source: MyBookie.ag)
Draw Offs: +310
Where Can I Watch? Fox Sports / Fanatiz
The match that will kick off this playoff will be between Tigres UANL and Necaxa, the best and worst qualified for this playoff, which will be played next Saturday, October 8, 2022, at the Universitario Stadium, home of Tigres, at 8:00 pm ET. Let’s remember that the playoff matches are a single match and the winner will have a guaranteed place in the quarterfinals of the Liguilla.
This is the only match that will have a guaranteed opponent regardless of the rest of the results of this playoff since if Tigres UANL wins, it will face Pachuca, while if Necaxa wins, it will face América.
After a very good regular phase, Tigres UANL was unable to achieve the desired consistency in the last few matches played, as, in their last 6 games, they had a record of 3 wins and 3 defeats, dropping out of the fight to enter the TOP 4 of the table.
The team coached by Miguel Herrera has reached the semifinals in two consecutive tournaments and will now seek to reach the final from the fifth position. Tigres has just crushed Atlético San Luis in its last match with a score of 3-0.
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On the other hand, Necaxa is one of the teams that managed to survive in the tournament after a dreadful end to the regular phase, in which they accumulated 5 consecutive matches without a win, with 2 draws and 3 defeats.
Los Electricistas were also helped by the fact that their closest pursuers, San Luis, Mazatlán, and Tijuana, also failed to win in their last game and thus did not knock them out of the playoff.
Necaxa is coming off a 1-0 loss to Atlas in the last game of the regular season.
For this match, we do not doubt that Tigres UANL will win, and we predict a final score of 3-1.
Tigres UANL vs. Necaxa Betting Pick: Tigres UANL
Liga MX Playoffs – Preview – León vs. Cruz Azul – Info
When: Saturday, October 08 at 08:15 pm ET
Moneyline odds: León +236 / Cruz Azul +120 (Source: MyBookie.ag)
Draw Offs: +236
Where Can I Watch? Fox Sports / Fanatiz
One of the most evenly matched games we will have in these playoffs will be the one between Leon and Cruz Azul next Saturday, October 8, 2022, at the Azteca Stadium, home of Cruz Azul at 8:15 pm ET.
Cruz Azul had a worrying start to the season, full of many games where they lost points that were not in anyone’s plans, but, after the dismissal of Diego Aguirre as their DT and the hiring of Potro Aguirre, they managed to have a spectacular closing of the tournament, where they won their last 4 games to secure their place in these playoffs.
Cruz Azul comes into this match with a lot of inspiration, especially after their last victory against Guadalajara, where they were able to secure a home game and have a home advantage to dream of reaching the quarterfinals of the Liguilla.
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On the other hand, León has had a campaign full of ups and downs in its first semester under Renato Alves. The result of this tournament could be fundamental for his continuity at the helm of this team.
La Fiera had a golden opportunity to finish the regular phase in a better position and thus play at home in the playoffs, but they squandered this opportunity in their last match against Tijuana, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
León knows what it is like to be in the final stages of Liga MX, but Cruz Azul also knows this, as it is one of the most popular and historic teams in Mexican soccer.
For this reason, despite being a complicated match, we believe that Cruz Azul will win, and we predict a final score of 1-0.
León vs. Cruz Azul Betting Pick: Cruz Azul
Liga MX Playoffs – Preview – Juárez vs. Toluca – Info
When: Sunday, October 09 at 01:00 pm ET
Moneyline odds: Juárez +390 / Toluca -125 (Source: MyBookie.ag)
Draw Offs: +246
Where Can I Watch? Fox Sports / Fanatiz
The Liga MX playoff action continues this Sunday, October 9, when Juárez and Toluca play at the Nemesio Díez Stadium, home of Toluca at 1:00 pm ET.
After starting the season as the best team in Liga MX, Los Diablos Rojos once again demonstrated that facet in their level of play that has been present in recent tournaments, an irregularity of results and performances, which is a situation that needs to be corrected by coach Ignacio Ambriz, an experienced Mexican DT who knows he is obliged to seek the limelight and be a tough rival in this big party.
Toluca finished the regular phase at sixth place in the table with a record of 7 wins, 6 draws, and 4 defeats, with 27 out of a possible 51 points.
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Juárez, on the other hand, will be playing in the final phase of a tournament for the first time in its short history, even in the playoffs.
Coach Gabriel Caballero achieved a spectacular improvement in this Juárez team that comes from finishing in last place in the standings in the Clausura 2022 tournament.
In this tournament, Juárez achieved a very good victory against Pumas in the last round, with a score of 3-1, to seal its first qualification to a playoff of the Liga MX.
Despite Juárez’s morale boost for this match, we believe that Toluca has much more experience in this type of scenario and that it will be able to win without any problems.
For this reason, we give Toluca the edge with a score of 2-0.
Juárez vs. Toluca Betting Pick: Toluca
Liga MX Playoffs – Preview – Puebla vs. Guadalajara – Info
When: Sunday, October 09 at 05:30 pm ET
Moneyline odds: Puebla +144 / Guadalajara +194 (Source: MyBookie.ag)
Draw Offs: +232
Where Can I Watch? Fox Sports / Fanatiz
Finally, the last match that we will have in these playoffs that will give us the eighth qualified to the quarterfinals of the Liguilla 2022 will be between Puebla and Guadalajara on Sunday, October 9, 2022, at the Cuauhtémoc Stadium, home of Puebla at 05:30 pm ET.
This will be the only game in these playoffs that has a recent history in Liga MX, as in the playoffs of the 2021 opening tournament, Puebla took a very complicated victory through penalty kicks.
However, in this tournament, La Franja had many problems, especially in its offense, when defining the matches, since, despite being one of the teams that lost the least number of matches throughout the regular phase, they ended with 10 ties, something that made them suffer to get their place for this playoff.
Similarly, in the last few weeks, Puebla managed to wake up and won two fundamental victories to secure its place in the playoffs and continue dreaming of winning the championship trophy. La Franja continues to surprise both friends and strangers, now seeking to overcome one of the most popular teams in Liga MX.
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On the other hand, Chivas de Guadalajara will be looking for a rematch of the 2021 game in this tournament. To do so, they must urgently reverse the situation in which they ended the regular phase, where they accumulated 3 consecutive defeats and, at some point, their place in the playoffs was compromised.
Similarly, Chivas managed to turn around a poor start to the season but fell into a slump at the most inopportune moment. Los Rojiblancos are on a winless streak and need to put the bad momentum behind them if they hope to reach the quarterfinals.
For this match, our pick is a Puebla victory with a score of 2-1.
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