One of the most interesting matches among the FIFA friendly internationals would be the one between Wales and the USA. The American team reaches the Liberty Stadium with a very young and talented team, and even though they don’t have Christian Pulisic, a lot is expected from the Americans in the next few years. They are stacked with potential in the midfield, having some of the most talented guys in the world in those positions. The hosts are among the toughest teams to play against in Europe and are looking quite solid over the past few months.
Preview
Wales (+120) has just one defeat in the past 10 games, which was against England in a friendly international match this October, 3-0. After that, the Dragons met the Republic of Ireland, posting a goalless draw before defeating Bulgaria on the road, 0-1. Latter, two events were in the UEFA Nations League.
There are many statistical patterns in their matches, and all of them are tied with low efficiency. Just one of the previous 10 events saw over 2.5 goals, and two ended with both sides scoring. Wales is traditionally an inefficient team, the one that waits for counter-attacks and set pieces, like most of the teams from the British Islands.
One more thing. They are late-hitters, as three of their wins in the UNL came after goals in the last 10 minutes.
USA (+240) is without Pulisic as mentioned before, due to his hamstring injury. Chelsea’s forward just can’t catch the rhythm due to constant injury problems. However, there are plenty of young faces who are more than willing to fill in his spot.
Gio Reyna, the latest of Borussia Dortmund’s superstars, Weston McKennie from Juventus, Tayler Adams from RB Leipzig, and Valencia’s newest rising star, Yunus Musah, all of the extremely young – Musa and Reyna being teenagers.
This should be the core of the new American team, the one that many expect to see battling for a high place in the 2026 FIFA World Cup that takes place in the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
After experiencing a nasty period, USA is back on track with four wins in the previous five games, all against the teams from the CONCACAF region.
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Aaron Ramsey is not in the team due to an injury, while Gareth Bale is. Though, we don’t believe that Tottenham’s star might appear against the Americans due to important matches that follow this one. Wales is in a position to reach the top tier of the UNL competition, and is focused on that right now.
We don’t have any particular news for the guests, apart from those connected with Pulisic.
Head to Head Matches
Seventeen years have passed since the last meeting between these two nations. The USA won back in 2003, also in a friendly international, with 2-0.
Prediction
The American side will have a chance to taste what it is like to play against a physical and hard-working team, which hasn’t been the case recently. Even though they have an ultra-talented midfield, we believe that they still aren’t ready to take on the strong and aggressive Welsh players. Also, the Dragons won’t play with their strongest lineup, but we just can’t see them losing this event. A double chance Wales or draw is at -300, and that is our pick here.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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