Canada vs Martinique

Canada and Martinique will launch their 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign at Children’s Mercy Park, with the Canadians looking to maintain an imperious pre-tournament form.

Paired up with the likes of the United States, Haiti, and Martinique, the Canadians need to pick up all three points here to bolster their hopes of making it out of Group B. The ‘Canucks’ take the field in high spirits, having won each of their last six international fixtures heading into the tournament. Notably, except for a 1-0 away win over Haiti in a World Cup qualifier back in June, each of Canada’s remaining five victories during that six-game sequence yielded a winning margin of 3+ goals, with the opener in three coming before the 20th minute. Canada are odds-on favorites to prevail at Children’s Mercy Park after winning their last three encounters against Martinique by an aggregate scoreline of 6-0.

On the other hand, since picking up a 3-0 triumph against Cuba in the 2019 Gold Cup group stage, Martinique have gone winless in their subsequent five international games (D3, L2) despite scoring the opening goal twice in that period. If football does follow the script, we should see both teams on the scoresheet, considering that four of Martinique’s last five matches have seen both sides scoring. Even though the odds are stacked against them, ‘Les Matinino’ will be confident of at least troubling the scoreboard after finding the back of the net in nine of their previous 11 outings. Particularly lethal beyond half-time, Mario Bocaly’s men have registered four of their last six goals scored in the second half of play.