The second set of matches in the Copa America begin in the early hours of Wednesday morning and for the tournament hosts things are already pretty serious. They kick off the action when they host Costa Rica in Chicago.
After defeat in their opening match against Colombia, Jurgen Klinsmann and his men know if they lose this game they will be eliminated from their own party before the music has started. Costa Rica drew with Paraguay in their first game and if they avoid defeat here they will be in a nice position.
A lot of people were surprised by how poor America were against Colombia. I wasn’t one of them although if I’m honest I didn’t think they were poor I just don’t think they’re very good and their performance was pretty much what I expected. Throw in the fact that Colombia played mighty well and the outcome was as expected.
Klinsmann will need to sort out both ends of the pitch. Defensively America looked like they were going to concede every time Colombia attacked and for all the pace of Bobby Wood up front they offered little as an attacking threat and that certainly has to change here if USA are to stay alive in the competition.
There weren’t too many surprises in this group for me in the opening game. Costa Rica played how I expected them to. They were solid defensively and looked to play on the counter attack through Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz but they couldn’t find the breakthrough.
Costa Rica have a decent record against America having won their last two matches against them. In all they are now unbeaten in nine matches and have only conceded four goals in that run so they are a pretty solid outfit right now it has to be said.
Team News
I would expect Klinsmann to freshen his side up for this match. It might be time to let the youngster Christian Pulisic loose at this level to show Costa Rica something different. Matt Besler could also be called upon in defence.
Costa Rica will be without defender Kendall Watson for this one after he was dismissed late on against Paraguay so they will be forced into one change. Keylor Navas misses the tournament through injury but his stand-in kept a clean sheet in the first match so all is good.
Head to Head
The overall record between these two is quite even with USA having 13 wins to Costa Rica’s 14. There have also been five draws as well but in recent times the balance of power has definitely shifted towards Costa Rica.
They have only lost two of the last nine matches between the two and as I mentioned earlier they have won the last two games they have played so they will be the ones going into this one with more momentum and belief of the sides.
Betting
I know USA are at home and I know they have to win but I’m amazed at these odds I really am. For me Costa Rica are quite simply the better side and as such I expect them to avoid defeat at the very least but I actually think they might well go on and win the game.
Costa Rica are everything that America don’t want. They are defensively proficient and they have plenty of pace and skill to attack with on the counter attack. USA play a high tempo, pressure sort of game but it isn’t easy to play against Costa Rica as they leave themselves open to the counter and that is why I suspect Costa Rica have the upper hand on them recently.
I’m going to have two bets in this match. The first is on Costa Rica with the +0.75 handicap which is quite simply too big. USA struggled against Colombia and I expect them to struggle here so that is my main bet but I am going to have a smaller punt on Costa Rica to win as the United States defence looked wide open whenever Colombia attacked it.
Therefore I can see Costa Rica snatching at least a goal on the counter and that should be enough to seal the Asian line and might well be enough to secure a vital win too.
Tips
Back Costa Rica (+0.75AH) to beat USA for a 5/10 stake at 1.80 with Winner Sports
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Back Costa Rica to beat USA for a 1/10 stake at 5.50 with Betfred
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