Club America vs Leon – January 18, 2014 Prediction, TV Schedule, and Highlights

January 17, 2014 11:40 pm Modified date: January 18, 2014 5:54 pm

The America vs Leon Liga MX Week 3 match will take place this Saturday, January 18, 2014 (3:00 PM Pacific) at the Estadio Azteca. The last time these two teams faced each other, Leon defeated Club America in front of a packed Estadio Azteca in the return leg of the Apertura 2013 Final, and were crowned as the Liga MX champions. Now, America have a new coach, Turco Mohamed, that will want to make sure Leon don’t celebrate another victory at the Azteca.

After Miguel Herrera left Club America to coach the Mexican National Team, Turco Mohamed was elected to lead the Azulcremas in the Clausura 2014. The experienced Argentinian coach is coming in with huge expectations, given that his predecessor won a title, made two semifinal appearances, and had one runner-up finish in two years.

Turco appeared to be headed in the right direction when his team easily defeated Tigres 3-0 in the opening match of the Clausura 2014. However, last week, Turco faced his previous team, Xolos Tijuana, and came out with a humiliating defeat. Xolos outplayed America on the synthetic field of the Estadio Caliente, and were able to earn a 1-0 victory over their previous head coach.

As is expected with such a high profile team, many in the press, and certainly the fans, started questioning whether Turco was the right person for the Club America head coach position. There were even rumors about bringing in coach Matosas to take over America. These comments are completely out of line, given Turco is a proven coach, he just started the season, and he lost against a very good team.

Turco Mohamed announced that he will be making two changes to his squad: Maza will return to the starting XI (finished serving a two game suspension), and Jesus Molina will play instead of Osvaldo Martinez in the defensive midfielder spot. The starting lineup will be: Muñoz, Layún, Paul Aguilar, Maza Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Valenzuela, Mosqueda, Molina, Medina, Sambueza, Jiménez and Rey.

Leon is the reigning Liga MX champion, and this team appears to have the talent to once again make a deep run in the playoffs. Leon started off the season with a disappointing 1-1 away draw against relegation favorites Atlante. However, they recovered and defeated Atlas 3-1 at home this past week. Now, Matosas’ team will go on to face Club America, a squad that is set for revenge.

America vs Leon Prediction

Turco Mohamed is already under pressure and cannot afford to drop any points at home against the defending Liga MX champion. Look for Turco to utilize America’s usual 5-3-2 formation, with an emphasis on attaching via the flanks. Matosas will have Leon play it’s classic offensive formation, using speedy attacks through the wings. I believe this will be a very tight match, but Turco’s America will ultimately end up with a 2-1 victory.