Tigres UANL vs León Odds & Prediction – Liga MX Apertura Semifinals Leg 1

• Tigres hosts  the 2020 Apertura champion Leon in Monterrey at 10:00 pm ET on Wednesday
• Leon staged a comeback for a quarterfinal win while Tigres scraped through thanks to its seeding
• See all the odds, best bets and predictions for Tigres UANL vs León in the Liga MX Apertura Semifinals Leg 1 below

Tigres UANL will be chasing its first Liga MX title in two years when it meets Leon in Mexico’s Apertura competition semifinal first leg on Wednesday.

Leon was the Apertura champion last season when the tournament was re-named the Guardianes 2020.

Meanwhile, Tigres lifted its last title in the Clausura competition of 2019 – and additionally went on to win the CONCACAF Champions League the following year.

Tigres UANL vs Leon Odds

Odds as of December 1 at DraftKings

Mexico’s league competition is split into two sections. The Apertura takes place each season before Christmas. Then, subsequently, the Clausura makes up the second half of the season beginning after the holidays.

In the quarterfinal, Tigres narrowly scraped through thanks to a 1-0 second leg defeat of Santos Laguna.

Salcedo Hits Vital Late Goal

An 82nd-minute winner from Carlos Salcedo made the tie finish 2-2 on aggregate – with Tigres advancing because it was the higher seeded team in the knockout stage of the competition.

Leon, meanwhile, staged an impressive second-leg comeback after losing its quarterfinal first leg tie by 2-1 against Puebla.

https://youtu.be/b2773WS8kK8

Firstly, there was an early goal from Angel Mena. Then, following that, a further strike from the penalty spot from the Ecuadorean forward delivered a 2-0 victory for Leon.

However, the oddsmakers at DraftKings rate Tigres as the favorite for a home win in the first leg – which kicks off at 10:00 pm ET at the Estadio Universitario in Monterrey.

#GritaMéxicoA21 I #4tosFinal I #LEOvsPUE

⏱️ FINAL!

🦁2-0🎽#TodosDeVerde 🇳🇬#OurPride 🦁 pic.twitter.com/BeMCNGFBfI

— Club Leon EN (@clubleon_en) November 29, 2021

It is priced at +115 with Leon at +260. The draw, furthermore, is rated at +220.

Certainly, this will be a tight game and with both sides not operating at full power, the draw looks the most likely first leg outcome.

There have been draws in four of the last five meetings of these teams.

Indeed, there was a 2-2 draw the last time these sides met at Tigres’ base in Monterrey in the regular season last September.

Surely, that is a valid prediction given that there have been draws in four of the last five meetings of these teams.

Tigres was awarded its seeding advantage against Santos Laguna in the quarterfinal because it finished fourth in the regular-season standings.

Late Salcedo strike sends Tigres through to semi-final#LigaMX #Apertura2021 🇲🇽https://t.co/UYeToSMBOn

— AS USA (@English_AS) November 29, 2021

This gave it an automatic place in the knockout stage last eight.

Santos Laguna had finished fifth – and the difference proved unquestionably vital as it earned Tigres its place in the last four.

Tigres UANL vs Leon Statistics

*Stats from Apertura knock-out stage.

Now, Tigres is looking to make its stature and its star-studded roster count more emphatically against a Leon side that has also been under-performing.

Both teams have reached the semifinal but the belief in Mexico is that both sides are capable of more than they have been showing recently.

Tigres’ manager Miguel Herrera has been in charge for only 20 matches and has not yet altogether embedded his philosophy as fully as he would have liked.

Significantly, the team has relied on individual moments of brilliance to see it through – such as Salcedo’s late winner against Santos Laguna.

Gignac the Hero With Long-Range Strike

Similarly, veteran French goal-getter Andre-Pierre Gignac was the hero with the long-range late goal in the 2-1 first-leg defeat by Santos which, eventually, ensured an aggregate win for Tigres.

Undoubtedly, Tigres’ inconsistencies had been plain to see in the regular season in which it won only seven times while drawing a further seven games – losing three.

However, it was the leading scorer in the regular season with 26 goals.

ON TO THE NEXT ONE!
😎🔥💚#OurPride 🦁 https://t.co/arP1Uv5Eot

— Club Leon EN (@clubleon_en) November 29, 2021

Leon, meanwhile, finished third in the regular-season standings.

Forward Mena and impressive goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota were the main driving forces of Leon’s second-leg comeback against Puebla.

But there is a sense that the Leon side should be winning more emphatically.

Angel Mena certainly proved his worth against Puebla.

Mena could, furthermore, be the most important figure once again as Leon attempts to impose its patient, possession-based game on Tigres.

He has sometimes been criticized for going missing in big games. However, he certainly proved his worth against Puebla.

Comparatively, Gignac will surely be a key player for Tigres along with Uruguayan forward Nicolas Lopez – who scored nine times in the regular season.

Chilean Victor Davila hit six regular-season goals for Leon. He did not, however, find the net in the quarterfinal.

And, in conclusion, these sides looked well-matched but have both been displaying flaws. So an all-square outcome looks most likely in the first leg – with the return game at 10:00 pm ET on Saturday.

Pick: Draw +220