Club América starts title defense on road vs Atlas

Defending champion Club América will make its presentation in the 2019 Liga MX Clausura on Friday taking on Atlas, which goes into the game on a high after winning its first match of the season 2-1 against Querétaro.

Las Águilas arrive to this 2019 Clausura once again as the big favorites to lift the trophy. Miguel Herrera’s men became the winningest team in the history of Mexican football last season and will now look to add to their decorated trophy cabinet.

Their first match of the campaign doesn’t look to be as straightforward, though, as they visit an Atlas team fresh off a surprising victory away from home vs Querétaro. For los Rojinegros, it was their first win away from Guadalajara in 15 matches across all competitions.

Atlas vs Club America Game Center

Las Águilas come into this game as deserved champions 

Let’s start off by saying Club América’s title was absolutely deserved. Las Águilas played lights-out in the second part of the season and finished the campaign unbeaten in their last 17 Liga MX matches. That’s the equivalent of the number of games played through the course of a regular season.

In the process, América managed to beat Cruz Azul in the final at the Estadio Azteca, this after La Máquina had gone unbeaten at home throughout the 2018 Liga MX Apertura. In beating league leader Cruz Azul at the Estadio Azteca, there was no doubting América was the best team of last season.

Obviously, the challenge now for Miguel Herrera’s men is to carry that momentum into this season. The good news for América fans is the team arrives virtually unchanged from the one that obtained the title in 2018. Las Águilas have pretty much kept the same team from the Apertura, and that can only mean good news in terms of how prepared this team is for the new season.

América’s dominance over Atlas expands a few years

América and Atlas also played in Week 2 of the 2018 Liga MX Apertura in a match that ended 3-0 in favor of Las Águilas. In fact, Club América has been absolutely dominant against Atlas over the course of the last few seasons, winning each of its last four Liga MX meetings vs the Rojinegros. In addition, América has kept a clean sheet in all four of those matches, outscoring Atlas 7-0.

América’s dominance over Atlas also extends to games taking place at the Estadio Jalisco. Las Águilas are unbeaten in their last six visits to Atlas’s home stadium. América’s last defeat in Guadalajara came in 2013, making it five wins and one draw at the Estadio Jalisco for the men in yellow.

Be prepared for a low-scoring affair

Club América’s recent success hasn’t always translated to high-scoring matches. Some may say Club América’s last two matches against Cruz Azul in the 2018 Liga MX Apertura final were kind of dull and made it among the most forgettable finals in recent history. The fact of the matter is América has been an UNDER bettor’s gold in the last few weeks. Four of América last five matches have finished in the UNDER, as well as seven of their last 11 Liga MX matches.

You’d expect Club América to start the season with a very cautious approach, given this will be its first game of the 2019 Liga MX Clausura. As such, you can’t imagine this being a back-and-forth affair, especially considering how poorly Atlas has fared against América in the last few years.

My take on the match

My take on this match is it won’t be a statement performance from América, but the champs should have enough to get the win. I know Atlas is coming into this game feeling good after beating Querétaro, but it was only the first week of the season. A lot of weird things tend to happen in the first week of the season. Look at Pachuca, which got thumped 5-0 by Monterrey. As a result, I’m going with an América win.