Apertura 2026 matchday 13 preview: leaders América visit Atlas in a midweek double round

Matchday 13 of the Apertura 2026 is a midweek double round: four matches on Tuesday and five on Wednesday. The one to watch is on Wednesday at the Estadio Jalisco, where Atlas, third on 21 points, host the leaders, América, who have 24 and a match in hand. A win would take Atlas level on points with them. Toluca, in second, also have 21 and play the same evening. After this one, four matchdays remain, and the top eight go straight to the Liguilla, with no Play-In.

Tuesday 20 October

Guadalajara v Necaxa (18:07 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Akron. Guadalajara, fourth on 20 points with the best defence (12 goals conceded), are without a win in four matches; on Saturday they drew 1–1 with Tigres thanks to a goal from Jordan Carrillo in the 77th minute. According to EFE, Gabriel Milito acknowledged that injuries, above all in defence, are limiting his options, and called for calm: ‘it’s just a bad patch we have to get through’. Necaxa, 17th on nine, lost 2–0 at home to Atlas, have not won since matchday 2 and have yet to win away. In April 2026 they drew 0–0 in Aguascalientes; in September 2025 Guadalajara won 3–1 at home.

Atlético de San Luis v Querétaro (19:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Libertad Financiera. Atlético de San Luis, 15th on 13 points, drew 1–1 in Toluca with a goal from Rafael Llorente in the 71st minute; they have won only once at home in the tournament. Querétaro, sixth on 20 from 11 matches, lost 5–0 away to Santos Laguna, their first defeat on the road, and finished with ten men after Diego Reyes was sent off in the 67th minute. In February 2026 San Luis won 3–0 at home; in August 2025 Querétaro won 3–2 at theirs.

Juárez v Atlante (19:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez. Juárez are bottom with four points, lost 5–0 away to Cruz Azul and have conceded the most goals, 31. Atlante, 16th on 11, lost 2–1 at home to Pumas. They have never met in the Liga MX; their last competitive meeting was in the 2019 Copa MX, 1–0 to Juárez at home.

Tigres v León (21:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Universitario. Tigres, 13th on 14 points, are unbeaten at home (three wins and two draws) and beat Puebla and Toluca before drawing in Guadalajara. Juan Brunetta scored in the 36th minute against Guadalajara and was sent off at 45+2: Mediotiempo reports that he will miss this match through suspension and that Víctor Manuel Vucetich is expected to bring in Emiliano Gómez in his place; Joaquim Pereira, with a muscle injury, is also out. The same outlet notes that León have won only one of their last ten visits to the ground. León, seventh on 18, lost 5–3 at home to América and have one win from six trips away. In the Clausura 2026 Tigres won 2–1 in León; in September 2025 they drew 0–0 at Tigres.

Wednesday 21 October

Atlas v América (19:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Jalisco. Atlas won 2–0 away to Necaxa, with goals from Ryan Mmaee in the 5th minute and Manuel Capasso in the 90th, though they finished with ten men after Milton Valenzuela was sent off. Hernán Crespo's side have won five of their six away matches, but at home they have one win, three draws and two defeats. EFE singles out Luis Esteves in attack and the goalkeeper Camilo Vargas. América won 5–3 in León, with goals from Henry Martín (a penalty), Carlos Álvarez, Erick Sánchez, Oscar Perea and Brian Rodríguez; with 27 goals they share the best attack with Cruz Azul. According to EFE, Miguel Borja returns to Guillermo Almada's side after serving a one-match ban. In April 2026 Atlas won 1–0 away to América; before that, América had won 4–2 at the Jalisco in August 2025.

Puebla v Monterrey (19:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Cuauhtémoc. Puebla, 12th on 16 points, drew 0–0 in Tijuana and are without a win in five matches. Monterrey, eighth on 17 from 11, beat Pachuca 2–1 with goals from Diego Rossi and Jesús Corona inside the first 16 minutes, but have won only once away. Monterrey won the last two meetings: 2–1 at home in April 2026 and 4–2 in Puebla in August 2025.

Toluca v Tijuana (19:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Nemesio Diez. Toluca are second on 21 points and have the second-best attack, with 26 goals, but are without a win in four matches: they drew 1–1 at home to San Luis. Tijuana, tenth on 16 from 11, drew 0–0 with Puebla, are without a win in five matches and have not won away in the tournament. Toluca have not lost any of the last five meetings; the most recent was 1–0 at home in February 2026.

Pachuca v Cruz Azul (21:00 Mexico City time). At the Estadio Hidalgo. Pachuca, 14th on 13 points, lost 2–1 in Monterrey, where Salomón Rondón scored his 13th goal, and have not won at home in the tournament. Cruz Azul, fifth on 20, beat Juárez 5–0 with goals from A. Montaño, Carlos Rodríguez, Omar Campos, Agustín Palavecino and Rogelio González. In April 2026 Pachuca beat Cruz Azul 2–1 at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla; in September 2025 Cruz Azul won 1–0 in Pachuca.

Santos Laguna v Pumas (21:10 Mexico City time). At the Estadio TSM Corona. Santos Laguna, ninth on 16 points, have won five in a row; the latest was 5–0 against Querétaro, with a hat-trick from Tahiel Jiménez, in the 29th, 63rd and 90th minutes. Pumas, 11th on 16, won 2–1 away to Atlante with two goals from Juninho, who now has eight. EFE notes that Pumas rely on their goalkeeper, Keylor Navas. In January 2026 Pumas won 4–0 at home; in July 2025 Santos won 3–0 in Torreón.

The table before the matchday

The top eight after matchday 17 go straight to the Liguilla, and there is no relegation this season. América, Querétaro, Monterrey and Tijuana have played 11 matches: each still has its matchday 7 match to play, América v Tijuana on 28 October and Querétaro v Monterrey on 14 November.

1. América, 24 points (11 matches, +13)
2. Toluca, 21 (12, +10)
3. Atlas, 21 (12, +1)
4. Guadalajara, 20 (12, +7)
5. Cruz Azul, 20 (12, +6)
6. Querétaro, 20 (11, +2)
7. León, 18 (12, +1)
8. Monterrey, 17 (11, +3)
9. Santos Laguna, 16 (12, +1)
10. Tijuana, 16 (11, +1)

Behind them, Pumas and Puebla also have 16, one off eighth place; then come Tigres (14), Pachuca and Atlético de San Luis (13), Atlante (11), Necaxa (9) and Juárez (4).

Numbers to know

• Pachuca's Salomón Rondón has 13 goals; he is followed by Juninho (Pumas) with eight, then J. Brunetta (Tigres), J. Carranza (Necaxa) and H. Martín (América) with seven each.
• América and Cruz Azul have scored 27 goals, the most; Juárez eight, the fewest.
• Guadalajara have conceded 12 goals, the fewest; Juárez 31, the most.
• Santos Laguna have won five in a row; Juárez have lost all six of their away matches.

The full table and the kick-off times for the whole matchday are on the Liga MX page.

Sources for the context: EFE via Infobae, EFE via Infobae, Mediotiempo.