The World Cup is over, a new year has started, and a little over two months after Pachuca lifted the 2022 Apertura title, Liga MX‘s 2023 Clausura season will now officially kick off this Friday!
Will Los Tuzos be able to hold onto their championship? Will Club America’s Alvaro Fidalgo help push his squad into first once again? And perhaps most interestingly, will the structure of the league remain the same for much longer?
Looking ahead to the regular season, here are a few predictions, storylines to follow and team-by-team previews for the next Liga MX tournament.
Sure, the best backline from last season will now be missing Mexico international Cesar Montes, who left for La Liga’s Espanyol this winter, but Los Rayados have enough depth and talent to still get the job done in 2023. Even without Montes, Matias Kranevitter (moved to River Plate) and Rodolfo Pizarro (back at Inter Miami for the time being), the second-placed side from the recent Apertura tournament have so far kept their 12 players who earned the most minutes last season.
Going through that list is an embarrassment of riches that includes some of the top talents in Liga MX that includes Stefan Medina, Maxi Meza, Alfonso Gonzalez, Rodrigo Aguirre, Celso Ortiz, Sebastian Vegas and a handful of others that would easily be star players in any other North American club. New winter additions such as midfielders Jordi Cortizo and Omar Govea adds even more depth to Monterrey’s already skillful group.
Under the tutelage of veteran manager Victor Manuel Vucetich, there seems to be a new methodology and focus that has finally unified the large squad of talented options. Other title-favorites like Club America, Pachuca and Tigres will make things interesting, but Los Rayados should be the leading candidates for the Clausura championship.
