Last Updated on April 17, 2026 8:46 pm by ZUWP Automation
One win in five for the hosts. Five straight draws for the visitors. Something has to give.
Guadalajara arrive at the Estadio AKRON on Sunday in the grip of a run that demands answers. Four defeats in their last five matches have stripped away whatever confidence this squad had, and the pressure of hosting Puebla — a side that has not won in five attempts either, but has not lost — only adds to the peculiar tension surrounding this fixture.
Match Details
- Venue: Estadio AKRON, Guadalajara
- Date: 19 April 2026
- Competition: Liga MX 2025/26
A Crisis of Form vs a Crisis of Ambition
The numbers around Guadalajara’s recent form are bleak. One win, no draws, four losses in their last five: a sequence that reads like a side losing its grip entirely. The solitary bright spot was a 1-0 victory away at Monterrey on 22 March, but since then they have lost 1-2 to Tigres UANL, and that win now feels like a distant outlier rather than a turning point.
What makes the run particularly damaging is that all five of those matches were played away from home. Guadalajara return to the Estadio AKRON without the kind of momentum that home advantage usually amplifies. The crowd will be there. Whether the performance follows is the question.
Puebla’s form tells a different kind of story, and not necessarily a more encouraging one. Five consecutive draws — three of them goalless, including away at Pachuca and Santos Laguna, and home to both León and Juárez — paint a picture of a side that is organised but inert. They have not been beaten. They have also not scored. A 0-0 at home to Juárez on 4 April, followed by another 0-0 against León a week later, suggests a side that is grinding results rather than pursuing them.
The contrast is sharp: Guadalajara desperate for a win to steady themselves, Puebla content to absorb and frustrate. Whether that dynamic produces a match of genuine quality, or a tense, low-scoring grind, may depend on whether Chivas can find the urgency their recent form has lacked.
Key Players to Watch
Roberto Alvarado is the most complete attacking presence in the Guadalajara squad on current form. Across five appearances this season he has registered eight key passes and nine shots, carrying the ball forward with a consistency that the rest of the front line has not matched. His average rating of 7.29 leads the side, and in a match where Guadalajara need someone to unlock a stubborn Puebla defence, the weight of that responsibility falls squarely on him.
Richard Ledezma, operating from a deeper position, has also contributed eight key passes in just four appearances, suggesting a player who creates at a rate well above his minutes. His assist in the win over Monterrey was one of the few moments of genuine attacking quality Guadalajara have produced in this run.
For Puebla, Kevin Velasco stands out clearly. Six appearances, 482 minutes, 15 key passes, nine shots and an average rating of 7.00 mark him as the primary creative force in a side that has struggled to turn possession into goals. He has drawn nine fouls, the most of any Puebla player with meaningful data, making him a constant threat in dangerous areas. His one assist and three shots on target underline the gap between his creative output and the side’s finishing. If Puebla are to break their goalless streak, Velasco is the most likely catalyst.
Iker Moreno provides Puebla’s midfield backbone. Six starts, 521 minutes, ten tackles and a goal to his name: he is the engine that keeps Puebla competitive in the physical battle. His 3.0 key passes across the campaign suggests he contributes beyond pure defensive work, making him a player Guadalajara’s midfield cannot afford to ignore.
Season Stats at a Glance
Neither side’s top scorers are troubling the league’s leading marksmen. Guadalajara’s Ángel Sepúlveda, with two goals, sits 29th in the division for scoring, while Puebla’s Esteban Lozano has one goal to his name, placing him 35th. The league’s top scorer has five. Both sides are operating well below the division’s most clinical attackers, which goes some way to explaining why goals have been so scarce across their recent form.
| Stat | Guadalajara | Puebla |
|---|---|---|
| Top Scorer | Ángel Sepúlveda (2 goals, 29th in league) | Esteban Lozano (1 goal, 35th in league) |
| Top Assister | Ángel Sepúlveda (1 assist, 84th in league) | Brayan Garnica (1 assist, 73rd in league) |
| Top Goalkeeper (saves) | Raúl Rangel (14 saves, 14th in league) | Ricardo Gutiérrez (2 saves) |
Raúl Rangel’s 14 saves across five appearances is the one figure that stands out. He has been kept busy, which tells its own story about the pressure Guadalajara’s defence has been under. His workload alone suggests the back line has been stretched repeatedly during this difficult run.
What the Bookmakers Say
The market is firmly behind Guadalajara at home. Across four bookmakers, consensus odds on a Guadalajara win sit around -320 to -350 in American odds format, implying a win probability of roughly 76–78%. Puebla are priced at +650 to +800, reflecting the market’s view that an away win is a long shot. The draw is available at +425 to +459. The over/under is set at 3 goals, with Pinnacle pricing the under at -104, suggesting the market leans marginally towards a lower-scoring affair — consistent with Puebla’s five successive draws without scoring.
Closing Argument
Guadalajara need this. Not just for points, but for the kind of performance that stops a run like theirs from becoming something harder to reverse. Puebla will arrive with a defensive structure that has kept five opponents at bay, content to make the hosts work for everything. The question is whether Alvarado, Ledezma and company can find the incision that has been missing, or whether Puebla’s resolute mediocrity proves just as difficult to break down as any high-flying opponent. One side is desperate to win. The other has made a habit of ensuring nobody does.