{"id":47137,"date":"2026-01-07T16:05:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/?p=47137"},"modified":"2026-01-07T16:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:05:20","slug":"liga-mx-clausura-2026-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gambyl.com\/en\/liga-mx\/liga-mx-clausura-2026-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Liga MX Clausura 2026 Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Friday, January 9, Mexican football gets underway with the start of the Liga MX Clausura tournament, which will be the 115th edition of the top-flight championship and the 60th short-format tournament.

A total of 18 teams will compete until May 24 for the title, currently held by Toluca, which lifted the trophy in mid-December and is now aiming for a three-peat.

At\u00a0Gambyl Exchange<\/a>, you can explore all the predictions for the\u00a0Liga MX<\/a>\u00a0Clausura 2026, the final bets for this Matchday, and the odds for each match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liga MX Clausura Betting Odds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Toluca +450 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Tigres +550 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Am\u00e9rica +600 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Monterrey +650 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Pachuca +700 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Guadalajara +750 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Cruz Azul +1000 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Pumas +1200 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Tijuana +2000 <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Ju\u00e1rez +2500 <\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Liga MX Clausura New Format <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Due to the World Cup taking place this year, the tournament underwent a slight adjustment to the schedule to finish earlier. The Play-In phase has been eliminated, meaning only the top eight teams will advance directly to the quarterfinals. <\/strong>

Aside from that, the competition keeps the same format: 18 teams playing a 17-match round-robin season, with the top eight in the standings at the end advancing to the playoffs.<\/strong>

The playoff matchups are predetermined: the team finishing first will face the eighth, second against seventh, third against sixth, and fourth against fifth. These ties will be played over two legs. In both the quarterfinals and semifinals, if the aggregate score is tied, the team with the higher position in the regular-season standings will advance.

The final will also be played over two legs. However, if the aggregate score is tied, two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played, followed by a penalty shootout if necessary.

As has been the case in recent years, there is no relegation in Mexican football. However, finishing near the bottom of the relegation coefficient table still carries consequences, as the team in last place must pay a fine of 80 million Mexican pesos, the second-to-last team 47 million, and the third-to-last team 33 million. The coefficient table is calculated by dividing the total points earned by the number of matches played over the last three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clausura MX Top Contenders <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the main title contenders is Toluca, the reigning champion, who are chasing a historic three-peat and looking to replicate what Am\u00e9rica achieved just a few tournaments ago.<\/strong> Their biggest reinforcement hasn\u2019t been a new signing, but rather keeping the core of the squad intact.

Midfielders Sebasti\u00e1n C\u00f3rdova and Pavel P\u00e9rez arrived from Tigres and Necaxa, respectively, and are so far the club\u2019s only additions. They join a strong squad led by Paulinho, the top scorer of the Apertura 2025, who, in recent months, has been linked with a return to the Portuguese national team. Alongside Alexis Vega and Helinho, the \u2018Diablos Rojos\u2019 are aiming for another title. Among the departures is veteran midfielder H\u00e9ctor Herrera.

One team looking to dethrone them is Am\u00e9rica, who were coming off a three-peat of their own until Toluca ended that run by defeating them in the final a year ago.<\/strong> An already strong roster has been boosted by the experience of Rodrigo Dourado, a midfielder who was one of the standout players at Atl\u00e9tico San Luis.

The only departure so far is Dutch forward Javairo Dilrosun, who had not featured much in recent months and was loaned out to Los Angeles FC.

Allan Saint-Maximin is now more settled and is expected to be one of the stars of the tournament, while hopes are high that Henry Mart\u00edn will return from injury and regain his best form to fight for a spot on the Mexican national team ahead of the World Cup.

Another top contender is Pachuca, who boast one of the league\u2019s most dangerous attacks.<\/strong> Alongside Enner Valencia, Jhonder C\u00e1diz, and Oussama Idrissi, they welcome back Salom\u00f3n Rond\u00f3n, the team\u2019s top scorer, who returns after six months with Oviedo in Spain, where he struggled and scored just two goals.

Portuguese midfielder William Carvalho has already gone through his adaptation phase and is expected to play a key role, while Alan Mozo is another new addition after falling out of favor at Chivas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liga MX Clausura Outside Picks <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cruz Azul has been competitive in several tournaments but has been unable to make the final leap to a championship. After weeks of negotiations, they finally completed the signing of Agust\u00edn Palavecino, who will reunite with Jos\u00e9 Paradela as they look to recreate the strong partnership they once formed at Necaxa.

Alongside Palavecino comes Miguel Borja. The Colombian striker previously played with the Argentine at River Plate, a club he left after scoring 62 goals in 159 appearances. On the downside, Ignacio Rivero departed for Xolos. The Uruguayan was one of the pillars of the midfield, but reportedly did not have a good relationship with the head coach.

Club Le\u00f3n, meanwhile, has been one of the most active teams in the transfer market. They brought in Colombia U-20 national team goalkeeper Jordan Garc\u00eda, Chilean defender Sebasti\u00e1n Vegas, Uruguayan winger Nicol\u00e1s Vallejo, and Colombian striker Diber Cambindo, among others. The negative aspect of their window was the departure of James Rodr\u00edguez and Nicol\u00e1s Fonseca.

Finally, there is Necaxa. Despite suffering several major departures, including Palavecino, Cambindo, and Johan Rojas, they have secured one of the most significant signings of the transfer window: Juli\u00e1n Carranza. The 25-year-old Argentine striker was purchased from Feyenoord for $4 million, although he spent the past few months at Leicester City, where he saw limited playing time. Carranza arrived in Europe in mid-2024 and has already made his mark by scoring in the Champions League, netting a goal that helped eliminate AC Milan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liga MX Clausura Podium <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Toluca <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Am\u00e9rica <\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Cruz Azul <\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Friday, January 9, Mexican football gets underway with the start of the Liga MX Clausura tournament, which will be the 115th edition of the top-flight championship and the 60th short-format tournament. A total of 18 teams will compete until May 24 for the title, currently held by Toluca, which lifted the trophy in mid-December […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[93],"tags":[171],"class_list":["post-47137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liga-mx","tag-soccer"],"aioseo_notices":[],"modified_by":"Erwin Noguera","aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t