CONCACAF Nations League: USA vs. Mexico Preview, Odds, Prediction

The finals of the CONCACAF Nations League brought together two eternal rivals, the United States and Mexico. The two sides will meet at Mile High, in Denver, to decide the winner of this competition. By the way, this is the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, which adds even more significance to Monday’s finals. The US team reached the finals after an intense battle with Honduras, who provided a lot of troubles to Gregg Berhalter’s boys. On the other side, Mexico squeezed out a win over Costa Rica following a penalty shootout.

Preview

USA (+180) barely defeated Honduras, 1-0 in the semis, with Jordan Siebatcheu scoring a game-winner in the 89th minute. The Americans had to work really hard to beat the rivals, who defended very well throughout the match, seeking their chances for scoring from counter-attacks.

This was the ninth win of the US team in the previous 11 games, with them playing 0-0 against Wales and losing to Switzerland, 2-1 in the remaining two events. During that time, Berhalter’s crew didn’t have some shiny rivals, but still, these results have to be respected.

After three events in a row, this was the first in which the US side kept its net intact. Prior to it, that was very frequent, but as said before, the rivals weren’t that respectable.

Mexico (+140) outlasted Costa Rica following a penalty roller coaster in which they beat the opponents, 5-4. The regular 90 minutes ended 0-0, which was the third time over the past four games in which Mexico participates to see just one side scoring.

Overall, their matches aren’t that efficient. Just one in the last five went above 2.5 goals. Unlike the USA, their rivals were a bit better. Mexico faced teams like Algeria, Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, Iceland, etc.

The only defeat in recent 14 matches was against Wales on the road, 1-0, and a draw was vs. Algeria also on the road, 2-2.

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Christian Pulisic is not available to play because he only recently finished his season, winning the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea.

The Mexicans are expected to have all of their best players for this game, including Lozano, Guardado, and Herrera.

Head to Head Games

So far, the two neighboring countries have met 72 times. Mexico has a better record, winning 38 times, while the USA posted 20 wins: 14 matches ended with a draw.

Mexico won the previous two games, one a friendly international, 3-0 and the other which was the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, 1-0.

Also, we need to mention that the past three contests concluded with just one side scoring.

Prediction

After seeing the semifinal matches, we are more than positive that the final is also going to be without too many goals. Both the American and the Mexican teams will be cautious because we have a trophy at stake here. As said, this is the first edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, and both sides would love to see their name written in the history books. So our suggestion here is to bet on under 2.5 goals, with the odds for this pick at -166.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals -166