The CONCACAF Gold Cup continues on Monday evening when the opening matches of Group C are played out and with the tournament getting up and running with some good action in the first two days there is plenty for the four sides on show to live up to.
Group C means we get to see the likes of Costa Rica and Panama on show for the first time in the competition while the other two teams in it will fancy their chances of a run so we should see more competitive action.
El Salvador vs Martinique (23.30 – Viaplay Sports 1)
The opening match in Group C sees the two lesser ranked sides battling it out when El Salvador take on Martinique in a clash both nations will know they really need to win if they are to have serious hopes of getting out of this section and into the knockout stages.
This group is seriously wide open and all four teams in it were actually in the top flight of the recently concluded Nations League which suggests we are in for some competitive fayre and perhaps none more so than here between two teams which look fairly evenly matched. El Salvador would rank as the better team but there isn’t a single player in their squad with more than two international goals to their name but they might have a slight advantage over Martinique who have had to play a couple of qualifiers last week to get in here. I think this will be tight and rather than chance my arm I’d rather use this as a watching brief.
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Costa Rica vs Panama (01.30 – Viaplay Sports 2)
The second match of the evening pits the two more established nations together when Costa Rica take on a Panama side who will be looking to make progress after their run to the semi-final of the Nations League recently.
We have some recent form between these two nations to use as they were both in the same original group in that competition, one which Panama dominated from start to finish which included a pair of wins over Costa Rica. Costa Rica qualified for the World Cup towards the back end of last year and beat Japan while they were there but they were so defensive it was untrue and I sense this tournament will be won on offense rather than defence, that is certainly how the opening matches have gone at least. Costa Rica lost a few big players after the World Cup and look to be a team in transition whereas Panama look to be gaining in profile all the time. This is the start of an important period for these two sides with them both expected to be battling for World Cup qualification so there is a chance for a marker to be laid down here. I’m expecting a tight match, not least because both will know the supposedly easier matches in the group follow this one. Costa Rica will have Keylor Navas and Celso Borges but they are 36 and 35 respectively to emphasise the lack of upside in Costa Rica. If there is a winner here I expect it to be the more progressive Panama.
Tips
Back Panama (-0.25AH) to beat Costa Rica for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Bet365
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