United States vs Martinique

The United States will be looking to all but cement their place in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup knock-outs when they lock horns with out-of-sorts Martinique at Children’s Mercy Park.

An embarrassing 4-1 loss to Canada in their opening game of the tournament stretched Martinique’s winless streak in all competitions to six straight matches (D3, L3). There’s been plenty of early action in Martinique’s recent outings, with each of their last four competitive fixtures seeing the opener scored by the 20th minute. Heading into proceedings as massive outsiders, ‘Les Matinino’ will have to defy their H2H Gold Cup record against the United States (L2) to keep their hopes of making it out of the group stage alive. It might be easier said than done, especially considering Martinique’s defensive woes that have seen them keep just one clean sheet in eight internationals, conceding over 1.5 goals in two of the last four. Topically, they have let in 2+ goals in both of their previous Gold Cup encounters against the USA.

On the other hand, Sam Vines’ eighth-minute strike fired the United States to a hard-earned 1-0 win over Haiti in their Group B opener, extending their winning streak in all competitions to four. The ‘Stars and Stripes’ have improved defensively over the past couple of months, going from three consecutive games without a clean sheet to three shutouts in their last four outings. Backed by a stunning CONCACAF Nations League success over bitter rivals Mexico in early June, the USA will be looking to reclaim continental supremacy after finishing runners-up in 2019. Indeed, no CONCACAF nation has won more Gold Cup tournaments in the 21st century than the USA (5), with the ‘Yanks’ conquering the competition twice in the last four tournament editions.