Club Leon host Club Deportivo Guadalajara, known as Chivas, in the Liga MX Apertura 2026 at Estadio Leon (Nou Camp) on Monday.

Leon sit ninth on 22 points in the Liga MX Apertura table after Friday's matches and need results to hold a top-eight place, while Chivas are already through to the quarter-finals on 29 points and are chasing the top seed with America and Cruz Azul level on the same total.

Match preview

Leon have 22 points from 15 matches, built on six wins, four draws and five defeats, with a goal difference of only +2 from 22 scored and 20 conceded.

That leaves La Fiera ninth after Friday's round, level on points with eighth-placed Tijuana, who hold a better goal difference of +3, with Monterrey one point behind on 21 and Pumas and Queretaro on 20.

Javier Gandolfi's side have gone two matches without a win, drawing 1-1 with Toluca at home on October 24 and then losing 2-1 at Cruz Azul on November 1, where Andres Montano converted a 56th-minute penalty, Jose Paradela added a second in the 72nd minute and Jose Alvarado replied only with a stoppage-time penalty.

The 3-5 home defeat by America on October 17 is the clearest warning for this fixture, because it belongs to a run of nine goals conceded in the last five matches, in which Leon have scored every time, eight in total, and won only once, 2-0 at Tigres on October 20.

Leon won both league meetings with Chivas in 2025 at the Nou Camp, 2-1 on January 28 and 1-0 on July 19, and the fixture has not ended level at Estadio Leon since November 2016, but the most recent meeting was a 5-0 defeat at Estadio Akron on March 18.

Gandolfi said after the Cruz Azul defeat that Liguilla qualification depends only on his own team, and the arithmetic backs him up: a win would take Leon to 25 points, a draw to 23, and a defeat would leave them on 22 before the final-round trip to Santos Laguna.

Chivas have 29 points from 15 matches, with eight wins, five draws and two defeats, and their 14 goals conceded is the lowest total in the league, against 25 scored.

Gabriel Milito's side have won three in a row, 1-0 against Necaxa on October 20, 1-0 at Monterrey on October 24, where goalkeeper Raul Rangel saved a penalty, and 4-2 against Atlante on October 31, after a four-match winless run in which they collected three points from 12.

The Atlante win was led by 18-year-old Santiago Sandoval, who scored twice as a false nine after Milito left Angel Sepulveda and Ricardo Marin on the bench, with Efrain Alvarez adding a goal and Diogo Bagui scoring an own goal.

Sandoval made his Liga MX debut as a substitute against Leon on July 19, 2025, scored both goals against Tigres in the Clausura quarter-finals and now has five league goals this tournament, level with Roberto Alvarado and Marin.

Chivas are the only team in the league without an away defeat, with three wins and four draws from seven road matches for 13 of 21 points, and both of their defeats this tournament came at the Estadio Akron.

America, Chivas and Cruz Azul are level on 29 points, with America ahead on a goal difference of +15 against Chivas' +11 and Cruz Azul's +10, and Chivas close the regular season at home to Cruz Azul on November 22, so a win at Leon would take them to 32 points.

Club Leon Liga MX form:

CD Guadalajara Liga MX form:

Team News

Leon have no new injury concerns, although Jose Ramirez and Santiago Londono have been left out of Gandolfi's plans, Luis Valadez (foot injury), and Angel Estrada (fractured tibia) are not available.

Juan Guevara is one yellow card from a suspension, which matters for a back line that has conceded 20 goals, and Sebastian Vegas is also reported to be on four bookings.

Gandolfi is expected to keep the side that started at Cruz Azul, with Panama international Ismael Diaz, Edgar Guerra and Alfonso Alvarado leading the attack.

For the visitors, Miguel Tapias remains in rehabilitation and Miguel Gomez has returned to treatment after a muscle relapse.

Luis Romo returned to the starting lineup against Atlante after a biceps femoris injury suffered on Mexico national-team duty, and Jose Castillo, Brian Gutierrez and Angel Sepulveda are back in contention.

Milito is expected to stay with the lineup that beat Atlante, although Marin, who has five league goals, and Sepulveda are the options if he restores a nominal striker in place of Sandoval's false-nine role.

Club Leon possible starting lineup:

Garcia; Moreno, Romana, Guevara, Mora; Echeverria, Rodriguez, Arcila; Guerra, A. Alvarado, Diaz

CD Guadalajara possible starting lineup:

Rangel; Campillo, Romo, Aguirre; Ledezma, Govea, R. Gonzalez, B. Gonzalez; Alvarez, R. Alvarado, Sandoval

We say: Club Leon 1-2 CD Guadalajara

The gap in the numbers points towards Chivas, who average 1.67 goals per game against a Leon defence that concedes 1.33, while Leon must break down a Chivas back line that has conceded only 14 goals and kept six clean sheets.

Leon have scored in each of their last five league matches and won both previous league meetings at the Nou Camp in 2025, so a goal for the hosts is likely, but they have taken only five points from their last five games and conceded in 11 of their 15 matches, and we expect Chivas to score twice and leave Leon needing a result at Santos Laguna on the final day.

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