Monterrey vs Tigres UANL Odds & Prediction – Liga MX Apertura Round 9

• Just two points separate ninth-placed Monterrey from fifth-placed Tigres in the league standings
• Monterrey has now gone four straight league games without a victory
• Read on for betting odds, a full preview and a best bet for Sunday night’s game

Two of the most storied teams in Mexican soccer clash for the first time this season on Sunday, September 19th, as Monterrey hosts Tigres UANL in the always highly anticipated Clasico Regiomontano at 8:06 p.m. ET.

With 12 Mexican league titles between them, the two almost always have aspirations of silverware coming into any season, and they are the two most recent winners of the CONCACAF Champions League too, with UANL following up Monterrey’s 2019 victory with success in 2020.

Monterrey vs Tigres UANL Odds

Odds as of September 19th at DraftKings

Mixed Fortunes For Monterrey

The last few weeks have likely been a weird time for Monterrey supporters. On the one hand, they likely watched with glee this week as the Rayados crushed Cruz Azul 4-1 on the road to cruise into another CONCACAF Champions League final.

On the other, they have been waiting for more than a month to see their team win in the league, with the team falling from fourth to ninth as a result. Three straight draws were followed by a 2-1 loss away at Atlas last weekend, where the home side came from behind to claim all three points.

Will Midweek Travels Prove Costly?

While Tigres will come into this match well rested since their 2-2 draw last weekend at home to Leon, the same cannot be said for Monterrey. The team played away in Mexico City against Cruz Azul on Thursday, so will only have had two full days of rest coming into Sunday night’s contest.

GOAL! Duvan Vergara goes upstairs to open the scoring for Monterrey#ArribaElMonterrey | #Rayados pic.twitter.com/BhAbCiXpur

— Rayados90 (@rayadosninety) September 11, 2021

On top of that, head coach Javier Aguirre named out a fairly full-strength lineup for Thursday’s match, meaning he may well feel the need to tinker and rest some players here. In particular, striker Duvan Vergara, who scored in each of Monterrey’s past two games, was forced off just before halftime in Thursday’s match, and it is unknown if he has recovered in time.

Tigres On Top

While Miguel Herrera’s side is obviously looking down at Monterrey in the league table, it has also enjoyed the lion’s share of success in recent meetings between the teams too. Tigres has won the past four head-to-head clashes, outscoring the Rayados 7-1 in the process.

Those four consecutive victories have allowed Tigres to pull away from their crosstown rivals, and Los Auriazules now have 21 wins to Monterrey’s 16, with 18 draws.

Monterrey vs Tigres UANL 2021 Stats

Attacking Intent

Even though Andre-Pierre Gignac has been enjoying an extended break from the action after getting injured at the Olympics, he has barely been missed. Herrera has almost an embarrassment of attacking riches at his disposal, and so Nico Lopez has ensured the team hasn’t missed a beat.

Nico López scored twice for Tigres last night, guiding them to a 3-0 win over Querétaro.

His second goal was a work of art.🔥pic.twitter.com/dGod8EiqCv

— Follow @UruguayanHeroes (@UruguayHeroes) August 18, 2021

The Uruguayan striker has started the campaign in a rich vein of form, scoring six goals in seven league games, and adding two assists for good measure. Herrera gave him a game off last weekend, starting Gignac in his place. The Frenchman went goalless in that 90-minute appearance, so it would be foolish to bet against him finding the net sooner than later for his first goal of the season. After all, this is a player who has scored 103 goals in 181 appearances for Tigres, so he’s scoring at a better rate than one every two games.

Monterrey vs Tigres Prediction

While both of these sides are yet to hit their full strides, with players returning from injuries and more pressing concerns in continental competitions, both will want to kick their LIGA MX assaults off in earnest here.

Despite neither being where they want to be, both have proved hard to beat, with just one defeat each, and a combined nine draws.

You can see where this is going.

Best bet: Draw (+215)