Panama vs USA Predictions

It’s all been rather easy for USA at the Gold Cup so far. They made light work of brushing aside minnows Guyana first time out, scoring four goals in the process, while they continued to impress when beating Trinidad by six goals to nil last time out. Panama have also won each of their first two group matches, so this match is essentially a shootout for first place.

Much like USA, Panama easily got the better of both Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago. When the widest of football audiences cast their eyes on the World Cup in Russia, Panama were minnows, but in the calmer waters of the Gold Cup, they’re fast becoming one of the big boys. First time out, Julio Valdes’ men outclassed Trinidad, scoring two goals, creating 2.53 expected goals for, keeping a clean sheet and conceded only 0.17 expected goals.

On match-day two, Panama were tested slightly more at the back, as they allowed Guyana to score twice, though they once again overpowered their opponents, scoring four and ending the game an expected goal difference of +1.3.

However, although Panama have easily beaten two weak teams, there can be no denying that USA’s wins over the other two teams in Group D have been more impressive than Panama’s. Whereas Panama conceded twice and surrendered 1.62 expected goals, Greg Berhalter’s men kept a clean sheet and conceded just 0.15 expected goals.

Whichever way we look at this fixture, it’s tough to see anything other than a USA win. USMNT have scored more goals than Panama, they’ve conceded less, while they’ve bettered Wednesday’s opponents in terms of both expected goals for and expected goals against.

At the prices, ‘USA to Win & Over 2.5 Goals’ stands out in the betting. Panama have shown enough attacking ability at this tournament to suggest that they can get at USA, though they lack the defensive nous to overpower Berhalter’s side. On this basis, backing the US, who’re averaging two goals for and 1.5 expected goals for more than Panama, to come out on the right side of a high-scoring game looks a solid option at the prices.