- Chivas finished the Clausura 2026 regular season in 2nd place, Tigres in 7th.
- Tigres have won 3 of the last 5 competitive meetings with Chivas, including a 4 - 1 win on April 11, 2026.
Chivas are Chivas, no matter who plays
A clash of titans in Mexican football awaits us on Sunday when Club Tigres de la UANL host CD Chivas de Guadalajara in a quarter-final of the Clausura 2025-2026 Liguilla. Both clubs have a reputation for making deep runs in the end-of-season finals and will be desperate to keep their title hopes alive and avoid an early exit.
Tigres finished the regular season with a flourish as they thrashed Mazatlán 5-1 on April 27, after mixed results in early April. Tigres’ boss Guido Pizarro is a pragmatic and experienced manager who has made the most of the players he has at his disposal. His style of play is quite flexible and his players are well drilled in executing a pragmatic 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, where they look to create overloads in wide areas and exploit space with quick counter-attacking football.
Chivas have made a long and consistent season-long run, frequently drawing in late April but maintaining a top-two finish. They are a high-tempo, high-pressing side and Gabriel Milito’s 4-3-3 system is all about control, possession and keeping the tempo high. Chivas have many talented footballers, but their best player is arguably their identity. They have a system and they execute it.
A midfield battle is expected
Tigres are currently priced at 127/100 with bookmakers, compared to Chivas at 201/100, which looks tight enough to us. The draw is priced at 117/50, which we feel is a fair reflection of how this game could pan out. The over 2.5 and under 2.5 goals markets are both priced at 22/25 at the time of writing, which we think suggests the first leg will be cagey.
Juan Brunetta has been the spark of Tigres’ attacks in the 2025-26 campaign and the Argentine playmaker, who scored a brace in the reverse of this fixture on 11/4/2026, is in good form going into this first-leg. Rodrigo Aguirre returned to scoring ways in April, adding a clinical edge to Tigres’ late-season attack. Nahuel Guzmán is the veteran leader of this squad and his experience will be vital in a high-stakes game like this.
Armando “Hormiga” González has been Chivas’ most clinical player in 2025-26 and is drawing national-team attention. Efraín Álvarez and Daniel Aguirre add plenty of creativity and balance in the middle of the park, but Chivas may have a few absentees through national team duty.
