USA vs Curacao
Concacaf Gold Cup
Date: Monday 1st July 2019
Kick off at 01:00 UK/ 02:00 CET
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia).
USMNT: Is Gyasi Zardes or Jozy Altidore in attack? Well, that shouldn't be a problem. This is a battle where both should not have difficulty in scoring goals. While Curacao plays with strength, defense is sometimes too undisciplined. If that's the case here, U.S. must get a lot of opportunities in the goal to get rid of this early.
Curacao: Feeling confident after getting a draw against Jamaica and seeing El Salvador destroyed against Honduras, Curacao is looking for a surprise. This will all go down to whether their defense can increase the challenge and slow down Christian Pulisic. External backs want to advance to Curacao, and that makes them vulnerable on the wings. Expect them to play more defensively.
Team News
Berhalter said it was an "easy decision" to bring 11 new faces to a meeting with Panama, which would make the key players fit for the knockout round.
Cristian Roldan benefited from rotation, as did Altidore's scorer, but the US will definitely go with the same XI who started their first two matches for this quarter-final match.
Curacao uses the same starting lineup in their last two group matches, meanwhile, and some changes - if any - are expected here.
Bicentini used what was effectively a 4-3-3 formation, with midfielder Bacuna - offering the Premier League experience, most recently with Cardiff - a key player in this team.
PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper Eloy Room made 13 saves in a win over Honduras and will keep his place in goal for this big match.
USA likely to start lineup:
Steffen; Lima, Zimmerman, Long, Ream; Boyd, McKennie, Bradley, Pulisic, Arriola; Zardes
Curacao might be the starting lineup:
Room; Gaari, Martina, Lachman, Statie; Bacuna, Hooi, Maria; Nepomuceno, Arias, Antonia
USA vs Curacao: Prediction
The advantage of Curacao is that they remain tight behind and that is why we do not expect them to be able to express themselves in this game because they have to maintain a lot of pressure from the host country.
They should be able to provide a good first-half performance and therefore we will support more goals to occur in the second half when the quality level of the US will rise and Curacao which of course is far from home will start to get tired.
We think the US will win the game, but they don't seem to be replaced by that price.
USA vs Curacao: Betting Tips
Half with the most goals: second half at 2.10 (11/10)
Below 3.5 goals at 1.57 (4/7).
