The new Liga MX season is upon us and we asked our Mexico writers to predict how the season would shake out.
Who will win the league?
Tom Marshall: Tigres. They are the best team, have had a full preseason behind them and have Argentine Guido Pizarro back. Liga MX's system means the strongest side doesn't always lift the trophy, but Tigres are undoubtedly the team to beat. Again.
Cesar Hernandez: Monterrey. The additions of Jesus Gallardo and Rodolfo Pizarro -- and new manager Diego Alonso -- will make Monterrey's already threatening roster into a frightening one. Although the likes of Tigres, Club America, Cruz Azul and Toluca might make the battle interesting, Los Rayados' deep and talented squad should carry the northern Mexican club to a championship.
Eric Gomez: Cruz Azul. Let's face it. As shocking as it was to see Santos lift the trophy last season and dispatch both Tigres and Club America on the way to doing so... it's not going to happen again. The Torreon side got rid of their three best players in Nestor Araujo, Carlos Izquierdoz and Djaniny in the off-season. There's hardly a hope they'll make the Liguilla again. As for Cruz Azul -- they have the coach, they have the players, and now they have the executive. After 21 years, it's time.
Who will be the top scorer?
TM: Roger Martinez. There is certainly a vacuum to be filled when it comes to goal scorers in Liga MX. Over the summer, Djaniny Tavares (Santos Laguna), Raul Ruidiaz (Morelia), Gustavo Bou (Club Tijuana), Nico Castillo (Pumas) and Fernando Uribe (Toluca) all left the league. Club America's Colombian striker Martinez looks best positioned to step up and he's done well in the preseason. The other obvious candidate is Tigres' Andre-Pierre Gignac, although the 32-year-old has tended to drop deeper over the last couple of seasons, and his goal-scoring totals have suffered as a result.
CH: Andre-Pierre Gignac. Now that Nico Castillo, Djaniny Tavares and Raul Ruidiaz have left the league, Gignac remains as the player who is most likely to finish at the very top of the scoring charts. Despite the fact that the 32-year-old Tigres star appears to be slightly past the prime of his career, at his very best, no other striker in the league is more powerful or dangerous than the former Marseille man.
EG: Roger Martinez. Djaniny and Raul Ruidiaz, the two men who have dominated Liga MX's scoring crowns of late, are now out of the league. Enter Martinez, a tough, technical Colombian striker who will enjoy distribution at Club America from Cecilio Dominguez, Diego Lainez and Mateus Uribe. In general, this is a team set up to score in bunches.
What will be the biggest shock (good or bad)?
TM: A continued overhaul of the league's structure. Liga MX is in flux at present. President Enrique Bonilla wants to make the league more professional and the idea is to have 20 ownership groups that aren't linked to state or municipal governments and can prove where their money has come from. But there are a lot of growing pains associated with that and in the process of getting to where Liga MX wants to be, there will likely be more uneasy debates about the relegation system and whether an MLS-style closed system would be best.
CH: Santos Laguna missing out on the playoffs. The current title-holders might struggle in the Apertura. Following the recent transfer of key players like Djaniny, Nestor Araujo and Carlos Izquierdoz, Los Guerreros now suddenly appear far less imposing than they did last season.
EG: The decline of Monterrey's two sides: Monterrey and Tigres. Antonio Mohamed's bid to win a title for Rayados ended in failure, with the Argentine getting a great consolation prize in a job from La Liga side Celta Vigo. Tigres is a team packed with talent, but getting older at key positions. Last season was an apt warning for what's to come, with both Monterrey sides getting bounced out in the first round of the playoffs. The Regio run is over and done with.
Who will get relegated IF we have relegation?
TM: Veracruz. Once again Veracruz has put together a squad made up in large part by loan players and foreigners. The club just about escaped relegation last time around, but at some point surely the haphazard way the club is run has to catch up with it.
CH: Veracruz. There's no real excitement regarding the summer transfers, and barring a major foreign signing in the near future, Veracruz will continue to expectedly shuffle near the bottom of the league table. The only hope for fans of Los Tiburones Rojos is if Lobos BUAP completely fall apart during the next two seasons -- which is actually a decent possibility.
EG: Lobos BUAP is a tire fire who only stayed afloat due to their former manager squeezing out what he could from a team that made more headlines for off-the-pitch scandals than what they did on it. They didn't sign anyone of relevance, and their coach Francisco Palencia, might not have been the best tactical choice for a team that needs points any way they can get them.
What kind of season will Chivas have?
TM: The potential for the wheels to fall off quickly is there, but this is still a decent squad with some good young players. Chivas are basically now a mid-table team and that's how they should be judged in the Apertura. That doesn't mean a playoff run should be discounted if the likes of Alan Pulido and Orbelin Pienda can find form, but nor should a finish towards the bottom of the league. The problems will really come if Chivas have a bad start and there is pressure on Jose Cardozo's position, but the Guadalajara team has enough quality to finish in the middle of the pack if everything goes to plan.
CH: One that is marginally below average. Man-for-man, there's no reason why the club's intriguing all-Mexican roster can't get more than three victories in the Apertura. That said, new manager Cardozo doesn't appear to be the right man for the job, and without the work rate of the recently transferred Pizarro, it's difficult to assume that Chivas will qualify for the playoffs.
EG: Pretty mediocre, but not a complete debacle. They still have quality at most positions, a manager who has gotten results elsewhere and the largest crowd in the country backing them -- making nearly every game a home game. They'll beat the expected foes, and struggle against the ones you'd expect them to, as well. A seventh or eighth place finish is not out of the question.