América hosts Puebla at Banorte as unbeaten leader of the Apertura 2026

Nine games without a loss is no small feat, especially when one of them came in the middle of the week as América punched its ticket to the Leagues Cup semifinals. That's the form Guillermo Almada brings back to Liga MX, and he does it as nothing less than the unbeaten leader of the Apertura 2026. Up next: Puebla, a team playing better than most expected, arriving in Coapa looking to pull off an upset.

The match is set for Estadio Banorte in Matchday 6, and on paper América is the heavy favorite. But soccer has a habit of complicating things, and Puebla isn't showing up as an afterthought. La Franja sits just one win behind the league leader, a scenario that would have seemed almost unthinkable a few months ago.

América dealing with some question marks, but the core remains solid

Almada's squad isn't without its concerns. There's uncertainty surrounding the futures of Brian Rodríguez and Sebastián Cáceres, two names generating transfer buzz, though both remain in training and available to the Uruguayan coach for now. The good news is that Luis Malagón and Álex Zendejas are nearing their returns, two pieces that should give the squad some much-needed depth in the coming weeks, which are packed with games between league play and the Leagues Cup.

With a midweek knockout match on the schedule, where América knocked off Columbus Crew to reach the summer tournament's semifinals, rotation is almost unavoidable. Even so, the core group coming off a 2-1 win over Juárez at Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez last matchday remains the backbone of the team.

Puebla arrives with confidence

Gerardo Espinoza has pulled off something few saw coming at the start of the tournament: getting Puebla into playoff position and keeping it there with real arguments to back it up. La Franja has gone three games without a loss, and in Matchday 5 it treated itself to a 3-2 win at the Cuauhtémoc over Santos, a result that gave the squad a psychological boost right before traveling to face the league leader.

A win at Banorte would mean far more than three points for the visitors: it would confirm that Espinoza's project has real substance, not just a passing hot streak. That won't be easy, considering the opponent across the field is an América side that hasn't tasted defeat all tournament and is playing at home with every incentive to keep extending its lead atop the table.

The match is set for Saturday, August 29, at 7:05 pm Mexico City time (8:05 pm in Ecuador, Colombia and Peru; 9:05 pm Eastern Time and in Chile; 10:05 pm in Argentina and Uruguay), and will be broadcast on Canal 5, TUDN and Vix within Mexico.