Another week down, another week closer the Liga MX gets to starting La Liguilla, or playoffs. We here at 32 Flags will examine, week by week, which teams will make it and which teams will get to start the offseason early.
Spots 1-4
In what was a horrible week to be in the top four, all teams in the top tier suffered surprising losses. The leader, Pumas, lost to Chiapas 3-2 at home losing their undefeated streak in Ciudad Universitaria. This would have been a great chance for Toluca to gain some ground on the leaders but they dropped their game against Veracruz on Friday, also losing 3-2.
It was the same story for the teams in the third and fourth position as both América and León battled it out but eventually succumbed to 1-0 losses to Querétaro and Puebla, respectively. With that, no one in the top four gained any ground on one another and surely the only ones that benefited from these defeats were the teams in the next two tiers.
So the top spots look like this: 1. Pumas 28 pts., 2. Toluca 26 pts., 3. América 24 pts. (+9 goal differential), 4. León 24 pts. (-2 goal differential)
Spots 5-8
Just like last week, if the playoff were to start today: Tigres, Puebla, Veracruz and Monterrey would position themselves in spots four through eight. All teams, except Tigres, won their games and did not cede any ground to the teams below them in bubble positions.
Puebla, in my upset pick of the week, beat León 1-0 in what was a crucial three points for them and will try to continue to move up to a safer position. Veracruz also got an upset win defeating heavily favored Toluca at home and, for now, are still positioned in seventh place. Monterrey easily did away with struggling Xolos, winning 3-1 in the comforts of home in la Sultana del Norte.
Tigres, with the top teams losing, had the great chance to move ahead to second place with a win, but unfortunately for them they could only manage a draw against relegation threatened Dorados. Now with that draw, they only complicated matters for themselves as Puebla and Veracruz are battling for the fifth (or even higher) positions and Tigres can fall down the table to sixth or seventh place.
But for now spots 5-8 look like: 5. Tigres 23 pts. (+8 goal differential), 6. Puebla 23 pts. (+2 goal differential), 7. Veracruz 22 pts., 8. Monterrey 20 pts.
Bubble Teams
The matchup of the week, in my view, was the el Clásico Tapatío as it had major implications on positioning for both teams. Unfortunately due to Hurricane Patricia, which ravaged the Pacific states of Colima, Michoácan, and Jalisco, the game was rescheduled for November 11th. Because of this rescheduling, and not to mention the surprise wins by bubble teams against top teams, the 9-14 spots were shaken up significantly.
The only team to remain unaffected was Chiapas, still holding on to the 9th spot, after their win against league leading Pumas brought them to 20 points just losing the 8th spot on goal differential (Monterrey has +6, Chiapas +1). Querétaro moved from 13th to 10th after their win against las Águilas and, in the other notable game of the week, Pachuca defeated Monarcas 2-0 to move ahead of them in the race for eighth with Pachuca now in 12th and Monarcas a spot below them.
Of course, due to their impromptu break, Chivas and Atlas dropped in ranking after not playing their game. Chivas went from 10th last week to 11th and Atlas from 12th to 14th, although spots 11-14 are separated solely on goal differential as all teams have 17 points.
Week 15 Matches
(Teams I predict to win are in bold, predicting a draw if no teams bolded)
Querétaro v. Monterrey
Tijuana v. Pumas
Cruz Azul v. Veracruz
Tigres v. Santos
León v. Atlas
Monarcas v. Dorados
Chiapas v. Puebla
Toluca v. América – This surely is the matchup to watch as #2 faces #3 in what will be a battle for positioning as Toluca will try to make it a race between them and Pumas for the number one spot.
Chivas v. Pachuca
