United States vs. El Salvador 1/27/22 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifications Soccer Picks, Predictions, Odds

The United States and El Salvador face off on Thursday in a CONCACAF World Cup qualifier at Lower.com Field. These two teams last faced off in September of 2021 and the two teams played to a 0-0 draw. 

The United States currently sits in 2nd place in the standings having picked up 15 points. USA has looked good during the Olympic qualifiers but their last game against Jamaica was a 1-1 draw. In that game, the United States had 62 percent of the possession but they only had two shots on goal, and they need to do a better job of creating scoring chances. The United States did have a friendly game on December 18th against Bosnia and Herzegovina and they played to a 1-1 draw. The United States actually fell behind in that game but a goal in the 89th minute by Cole Bennett allowed them to pick up a draw. The United States are expected to be mostly at full strength in this game. Pulisic and McKennie are both expected to start. 

On the other side of this matchup is El Salvador who sits in 7th place in the standings having picked up six points. El Salvador’s last win came against Panama eight games ago on October 7th. In the last game against Chile, the offense scored zero goals and that led to the defeat. Two games ago against Ecuador, El Salvador fell behind, but they found success right before half and that was enough to pull out a draw. The one thing that El Salvador can’t do in this game is they can’t fall behind. If they fall behind early, it’s going to be a long game. 

I think the United States wins, but I don’t see them winning this game in blowout fashion. Look for El Salvador to find the back of the net, and they will be only losing by a goal. Look for El Salvador +1.5 to cash. I also think it’s a lean to the over to cash.