Canada and El Salvador will meet on the final matchday of Group B at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, as both teams are looking for a spot in the knockout stages.
Canada are in a much better position of the two since they're currently sitting at the top of the group standings, with four points from the first two games. They have started the competition with a convincing 6-0 win over Honduras, but they failed to beat Curacao in a 1-1 draw, which was a huge surprise. Still, Canada need a point to definitely secure their place in the next phase, but even with a loss they could go through, depending on the outcome of the other match in the group.
Meanwhile, El Salvador have just one point from a draw with Curacao as well, along with a loss to Honduras, but they still have a chance to reach the next stage. Of course, they have to beat Canada to achieve this, which is probably a task too tall for them.
How the bookies view it: Canada clearly favoured to win
Based on the odds, there is little doubt about the winner of this game since Canada are priced at just 1/5 at Boylesports, while El Salvador winning comes with whopping 10/1 odds.
Meanwhile, a draw has odds of 5/1 at Boylesports, so that result is also unlikely, according to the bookies.
Recent head-to-head: Canada have a clear advantage
With three wins over El Salvador in their last four meetings, Canada have been the better team of the two lately. In fact, they also have the advantage when it comes to their overall H2H record: 9-4-4.
Players to watch: Jonathan David to finally get going?
While he's yet to score a goal at the tournament, David is Canada's top scorer ever and clearly the best forward they have, so we can see him get into form sooner rather than later.
Considering David's usual prowess in front of the goal and his efficiency in Canadian jersey, backing David to score at any time at even odds at bet365 sounds like a smart bet.
Predicted line-ups
Canada have been and remain without their star player Alphonso Davies, who will miss the entire tournament as he's recovering from a serious injury. Moise Bombito is also out with an injury, while Stephen Eustaquio is with Porto at the Club World Cup, but could join the Canadian national team if they advance to the next stage and Porto gets eliminated, both of which are very likely.
Canada: St. Clair, Sigur, Miller, Waterman, Laryea, Buchanan, Kone, Choiniere, Ahmed, Oluwaseyi, J. David
El Salvador: Gonzalez, Tamacas, Sibrian, Cruz, Larin, Landaverde, Cartagena, Duenas, Ordaz, Gil, Henriquez
Anything else catch the eye?
We fully agree with the bookies and expect Canada to win this match, most likely by more than one goal. After all, that was the case in three of the last four meetings between Canada and El Salvador. So, Canada to win with a -1 handicap at 4/6 odds at Boylesports sounds like a reasonable bet.
Meanwhile, we saw both teams score in just one of the last seven duels between these two teams, so BTTS – No is another interesting market to consider at 7/10 odds at Boylesports.
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