Guillermo Almada goes into another Chivas meeting with the same problem hanging over him: his teams have gone six straight Liga MX matches against Guadalajara without a win and scored only two goals in that stretch. The run started after January 2022 and now lands on a matchup that has become less about style and more about whether Almada can find a way to break the pattern.
The numbers explain why the search keeps coming back. In those six meetings, Almada’s teams averaged 0.33 goals per game, down from 1.6 in the previous five. The results line up in a blunt sequence: 0-0, 1-1, 0-0, 0-1, 0-2 and 1-2. Four of the six ended with his side scoreless, and the last goal in the stretch came in February 2025 when Pachuca lost 2-1.
That history matters because the run did not happen against one coach or one version of Chivas. It included defeats under Fernando Gago, Arturo Ortega and Óscar García, and Gabriel Milito will be the fourth coach Almada faces within the same span. For a manager whose teams once went five Liga MX matches against Guadalajara without a loss, with three wins, two draws, eight goals for and two against, the drop-off is the story. Since January 2022, the edge has disappeared.
There is another reason this matchup is being watched now. América has scored 15 goals in seven Apertura 2026 matches and has not been held scoreless once, with two goals in the first two matchdays and 13 in the next five. That kind of production makes any defensive lapse harder to hide, which is why its 4-3 loss to Cruz Azul still sits in the frame. América trailed 4-0 at Estadio Azteca before Brian Rodríguez, Óscar Perea and Miguel Borja cut it back, and Almada said afterward, “Me confirmó lo bueno que veníamos haciendo y lo malo que veníamos haciendo. Defendimos muy mal y tuvimos una cantidad de situaciones, no solo los goles, dos pelotas o tres en los palos.”
That quote points to the problem as clearly as the scoreline did. América can score in volume, but it has already shown it can be opened up in the same night. If Almada is looking for the break in the Chivas run, the next test is not just about finishing chances. It is about proving that the defensive slump that showed up against Cruz Azul does not travel into the one matchup that has already denied him six times in a row.
