- Necaxa are unbeaten in 3 home games (W1, D2), but have drawn their last 2 games, 1-1 and 0-0.
- CF Atlante are winless in 2 away (L2), so don't travel well.
Necaxa and Atlante in a tight scrap at Estadio Victoria
Necaxa come into this fixture as the bookmakers' favourites at 4/5, but we would pass on the home side for this one and instead back both teams to score at 59/100 and over 2.5 goals at 16/25. The draw at 139/50 and CF Atlante at 147/50 are also tempting odds, but a home win looks marginally more likely.
In 5-match form, Necaxa have been difficult to trust over a full 90' as they've been a mixed bag of results and performances (W1, D2, L2). A 1-1 draw at home to Club Tigres de la UANL and a 0-0 draw against CD Chivas de Guadalajara have been their most recent efforts, while a 4-1 defeat to Cruz Azul was their previous fixture.
At first glance, Necaxa's record of 10 matches across all competitions is pretty poor (W2, D3, L5), but there is one positive to be gleaned from the recent results, they've been stubborn enough to hold two tough opponents at home in their past two matches.
CF Atlante have more bite
The visit of CF Atlante should also make for a fascinating chess match as the two teams couldn't be more different in terms of style. Martín Varini's side are very compact, midfield-heavy and rely on transitioning quickly when they've managed to keep the ball out of their own half.
Atlante are far more high-tempo, attacking their opponents and pushing the pace, but they can get outnumbered in wide areas and get picked off on the counter-attack. As Necaxa are the favourites to win, it seems reasonable to assume they will try to control this one through the middle.
This fixture has a little more edge to it as Atlante return to the Liga MX. The visitors have been in better form than the home team, despite their winless run away from home. Miguel Fuentes' men have won 4 of their last 10 matches in all competitions, and that's enough to give them a little bit more bite.
Don’t count on a goal fest
Tomas Badaloni is Necaxa's main spark, with 2 goals in their last 5 matches and is usually the spark that ignites any fire that the hosts have going forward. However, this side have averaged just 1.20 goals per game in their home matches across all competitions, and have netted just 6 times. CF Atlante have been modest scorers on their travels, scoring just 4 times in their previous 5 matches. Their most recent games have been a 2-0 home success over CD Tepatitlan de Morelos and a 2-0 defeat to the same opponent when away. While Necaxa will certainly be the more compact and organised side, we think Atlante have just enough to push the game into extra time with a 2-1 away win.
