USA vs Guyana Predictions

USA, who won this competition two years ago, begin their title defence on home soil with a match against minnows Guyana. A new-look USMNT side, under the stewardship of Gregg Berhalter, will be hoping to make a fast start.

Before facing Jamaica, a fortnight ago, things had been going well under the new boss. USA were unbeaten in four, three of which saw them come out on top, while they appeared to be playing some good football. However, things have taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, as one of the tournament hosts – the Gold Cup is being played in USA, Costa Rica and Jamaica – come into their opening game having lost two on the bounce.

During their 0-1 loss against Jamaica, USA looked slightly laboured, while they appeared to be lacking in terms of both creativity and end-product. Much of the same can be said for their 0-3 defeat against Venezuela last time out. Going forward, although they weren’t completely without chances, the US lacked a real cutting edge, while when push came to shove, they offered little defensive resistance. Venezuela are very much an improving side, a side better than most at this tournament, though it’s probably fair to say that USMNT need to improve.

Fortunately for Berhalter’s men, this appears to be a relatively kind opening fixture. Guyana, who sit 175^th in the FIFA Rankings, 145 places below USA, are reasonably weak, though we shouldn’t automatically assume that they’ll receive a battering. After all, they have a squad of experienced footballers, most of which ply their trade in England at the lower end of the Football League/higher reaches of Non-League football.

However, despite having a squad of players not short of experience, it must be said that Guyana have struggled against some poor sides of late. Last time out, they were beaten by Haiti, while they came unstuck against Bermuda prior to that. Their last win came back in March, when they beat Belize, though if their last couple of efforts are anything to go by, they’re likely to fall considerably short against a side of USA’s quality.

From a betting point of view, unfortunately, this is anything but a fixture to get excited about. USA ought to beat Guyana without getting out of second gear, though the market is all too aware of that, so much so that Berhalter’s men come into this match as short as 1/50 in places.

The early market also has this down as a game where the goals will fly in left, right and centre, though at the prices, it may be worth adopting the opposite view. Specifically, ‘USA to Win & Under 4.5 Goals’ stands out.

For all, the hosts have the overall quality to emerge victorious from their opening match, their recent form doesn’t exactly point towards them running riot. Guyana will almost certainly adopt a deep-lying approach, so the USA’s relative lack of creativity could mean that they fail to run riot. After all, USA have only scored more than once in two of their six games under Berhalter, while they’ve only scored more than twice in one of those. Even at the previous Gold Cup, where they faced minnows such as Martinique, Nicaragua and El Salvador, USA failed to score more than three goals.