Liga MX is back! We missed it for a variety of reasons one of them was certainly the fact that betting on World Cup games was extremely difficult. With the number of upsets that we got it was nearly impossible to be able to make reasonable bets during the tournament. There’s a chance that we’ll see a little bit of that in Liga MX this weekend. Particularly since there are a few teams that we haven’t seen since the end of the last year. At the same time it’s a good week to pick some underdogs and sleepers so lets get to it!
Club America vs Queretaro
Queretaro traditionally plays Club America very close. That game in which Ronaldinho destroyed Club America at the Azteca is remembered amongst the Queretaro fans perhaps even more than their lone Copa MX win. That being said picking anything other than a Club America win in this matchup is wishful thinking.
Tano Ortiz’s side looked “ok” during the preseason cup, but to be fair he was trying to get as many players involved as he could in that particular tournament. He ultimately lost to a Cruz Azul team that did exhibit some of Club America’s main weaknesses. It’s the middle of that back line which is going to be the problem for Club America this year just like last year. Nestor Araujo is one of the worst signings in recent memory, and Tano Ortiz doesn’t know what to do with him. Yes, we pick on Araujo consistently on this site, but we do so because we have reasons to!
Club Queretaro arguably got rid of their best offensively player in Ariel Nahuelpan. It’s incredibly sad to say that particularly at this point in Nahuelpan’s career. This team would struggle to compete in the Expansion league. So even though Club America is a -300 favorite in this match this may just be the safest bet of the week. If you bet a Club Queretaro loss for the entire season you’ll probably have like a 70 or 80% win rate. You can’t get that kind of return on any stock! The problem is you do need to put good money down to make an significant profit.
Rayados vs Chivas
Paunovic’s first test in an official game as manager of Chivas is perhaps one of the toughest outings in Liga MX. Rayados is still the most expensive squad in the league, even though they haven’t exactly played like in the past few seasons. There’s more intrigue in a sense when it comes to Rayados than what we can expect to see from Chivas. Chivas played a lot of televised preseason games so that allowed everyone to get a sense for what the team is going to look like. Rayados was a lot quieter in the last few months.
Chivas is going to try and keep possession for long stretches of the game. The team has lacked some punching power upfront. Even though he’s not a number 9 there’s some hope that Victor Guzman can help change that. Especially if he’s able to play well alongside Alexis Vega. If that partnership gels together well this can be a very interesting team. We still have some questions at the back starting from the goalkeeper position. Sadly, Wacho Jimenez has shown why he hasn’t been a consistent Liga MX starter throughout his career. Also, the left and right back spots are still a mystery at Chivas.
For their part Rayados has their base team pretty much intact other than the loss of Cesar Montes. It’s going to be interesting to see how Vucetich copes at the back. Other than that Pizarro left room for Cortizo to come in. They are arguably similar players. The +260 on the draw looks perfect for this one. Especially considering it’s the first week of the season. That +320 on Chivas is looking like bait for Chivas supporters.
