The opening matchday of the 2023-24 Liga MX Apertura action caps off at Estadio Leon with a tasty-looking encounter between Club Leon and Chivas Guadalajara.
Coach Veljko Paunovic and his Chivas came agonizingly close to lifting the title with an all-Mexican roster last season. They reached the Liga MX Clausura final, but despite a resilient fight back, they ultimately fell short against a superior Tigres UANL, who came out on top with a narrow 3-2 win in extra-time.
The second-most successful Liga MX team have recently trudged and lumbered their way through disappointing seasons, with their last league title coming in 2017.
They crawled their way into reclassification during Apertura phase despite winning just one of their opening ten games, but the failure to once again advance to the Liguilla proved to be the final nail in the coffin for former boss Ricardo Cardena.
A trophy would have been a perfect way to mark the new era for the club under Paunovic and technical director Fernando Hierro, both hired last October, both the team looks to be heading in the right direction and enter the 2023 Apertura as favourites to go the whole hog.
Club León, meanwhile, were recently crowned CONCACAF champions for the first time in their history after upsetting the odds to beat MLS champions LAFC in the grand final, 3-1 on aggregate a month ago.
Nicolas Larcamon's side will be cruising with confidence after the triumph, and are expected to contend for the Apertura title this time around.
They had a somewhat underwhelming performance in both the Apertura and Clausura phase last season, as they were eliminated in the quarterfinal, and requalification stage, respectively.
Here GOAL brings you everything you need to know about how to watch, including TV channel, streaming details and more.
León vs Chivas kick-off time
| Date: | July 3, 2023 |
| Kick-off time: | 10 pm ET/ 7pm PT |
| Venue: | Estadio Leon |
The Liga MX Apertura game between León vs Chivas will be played on Monday, July 3, with kick off at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
How to watch León vs Chivas online - TV channels & live streams
 | TUDN | Watch here |
 | fuboTV | Watch here |
The game will be broadcast live on TV on TUDN and available to stream live online through fuboTV.
Team news & squads
León team news
Led by up-and-coming manager Nicolas Larcamon, Leon's defensive rigidity made them successful in the Clausura phase of the last campaign as they conceded a league-low 13 goals in 17 games, 16 fewer than during the fall season.
With his match-winning goal against LAFC to win his side their first CONCACAF silverware, pacey striker Lucas Di Yorio wrote his name into the illustrious history of Club Leon, but that proved to be his last goal for them. The CCL goal-scorer was only at León on loan from Pachuca, and was not retained owing to underwhelming output in last Clausura campaign overall.
The Argentine striker has been replaced on the roster by Uruguayan forward Federico Vinas, who has been brought from Club America and was named the Best Young Player at the 2021 CCL tournament.
Creative winger Victor Davila, who won the Golden Ball as the best player during their run to the Champions League title, will support Vinas in attack alongside Brian Rubio.
Club Leon possible XI: Cota; Moreno, Barreiro, Frias, O. Rodriguez; Mena, Romero, Ambriz; Davila, Vinas, Rubio
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers: | Cota, Blanco |
| Defenders: | Frias, Moreno, Barreiro, O. Rodriguez, Bellon, Tessilo, Hernandez, Ramirez |
| Midfielders: | L. Romero, I. Rodriguez, Angulo, Price, Ambriz |
| Forwards: | Mena, Davila, Vinas, Rubio, Alvarado, Moreno |
Chivas team news
Veljko Paunovic's first season in charge nearly brought the Liga MX giants a championship in a new era for the club. In an astonishingly quick time, the Serbian boss made his team defensively rigid and organized with his preferred 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 formation, but he also possesses a seamless ability to change tactics when needed.
He will have to make do without star forward Alexis Vega as he is still recovering from an knee injury, while Carlos Cisneros and Jose Juan Macias remain other long-term absentees, having suffered ligament ruptures earlier this year.
In Vega's absence, Victor Guzman will be required to produce the goods in the creative and offensive department, having directly contributed to 16 goals last term.
As ever, the visitors have been fairly queit in the transfer market, but have pulled off a marquee addition in the form of Mexican international midfielder Erick Gutierrez from PSV Eindhoven, a high-profile acquisition that has all the ingredients to elevate Chivas to a possible trophy in the Apertura.
Chivas possible XI: Jimenez; Mozo, Sepulveda, Orozco, Calderon; F. Gonzalez; Brizuela, Beltran, Guzman, Alvarado; Rios
| Position | Players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers: | Jimenez, Whalley |
| Defenders: | Mozo, Sepulveda, Orozco, Calderon, Mier, Chiquete, Briseno, Sanchez, |
| Midfielders: | Gutierrez, F. Gonzalez, Beltran, Guzman, Z. Munoz, Torres |
| Forwards: | Rios, R. Alvarado, Marin, Perez, Brizuela |
Head-to-Head Record
There is usually not much between Leon and Chivas when they come up against each other, with both recording two victories and a draw in past five meetings.
| Date | Match | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 16/4/23 | Leon 0-2 Chivas | Clausura 2023 |
| 21/7/22 | Chivas 0-0 Leon | Apertura 2022 |
| 20/2/22 | Leon 2-1 Chivas | Clausura 2022 |
| 19/8/21 | Chivas 0-3 Leon | Apertura 2021 |
| 9/2/21 | Leon 1-3 Chivas | Clausura 2021 |