The US men’s national team and Costa Rica play their third and final Qatar 2022 world cup qualifying matches of the October tripleheader in Columbus on Wednesday night.
The two teams have had differing fortunes in their respective two matches to date.
From the perspective of the USA, the fixture represents a chance to get their campaign back on track with a much-needed win.
While for the Costa Ricans, avoid defeat here and this will give them a great chance of reaching Qatar in 2022, and continue their impressive history of qualifying for world cups.
After failing to make it to Russia back in 2018, the USMNT is really playing with fire in their efforts to make it to Qatar.
Gregg Berhalter’s team got off to a sticky start with two draws in their opening two fixtures.
They started off with a 0-0 draw away to El Salvador, and then followed that up with a disappointing 1-1 draw with Canada.
The third match in September’s trilogy of fixtures seen them register their first win of the qualifying group with a 4-1 win over Honduras.
When the US started the October tripleheader with a 2-0 win over Jamaica last Thursday, the corner finally seemed to be turned.
Back-to-back wins were just what the doctor ordered, and a win over Panama on Sunday would have seen Berhalter’s team go top.
What followed wasn’t in the script at all. A 1-0 defeat was bad enough, but a 1-0 defeat without even a shot on target was a shocking result.
All this leaves the US sitting in second place in the group, 3 points behind leaders Mexico, and just 3 points ahead of El Salvador, who sit sixth.
The group is now wide open, and qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar looks far from certain for the US.
So far in this qualifying campaign, Costa Rica has won one, lost one, and drawn three.
In September’s tripleheader, they started with a 0-0 draw away at Panama, followed by a 1-0 away defeat to Mexico.
Next up was an extremely disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Jamaica. A result which could come back to haunt them!
So far in October’s matches, they have improved greatly, picking up 4 points from their two fixtures.
They started with a 0-0 draw away at Honduras last Thursday and followed that up with a 2-1 home win over El Salvador on Sunday.
Avoiding defeat to the USA today will cap an impressive October display and put Costa Rica in with a great chance of qualifying for their third finals in a row.
The best Vegas sportsbooks have the USA as betting favorites to win on Wednesday.
The Stars and Stripes are -210 to get the 3 points with BetUS, but it is debatable if those odds represent true value.
The draw is next at +300, and with Costa Rica likely to be keeping things tight, a stalemate may be the better value bet.
A win for the visitors is more of a long shot. At +600 it would be a major shock if ‘Los Ticos’ could pull off a win.
Elsewhere in the betting, over 2.5 goals is +110, with under 2.5 goals at -137.
In four out of five matches for both these teams, the outcome has been under 2.5 goals.
With the USA under immense pressure, and Costa Rica likely to be happy with a draw, I think a bet on under 2.5 goals has a great chance of coming in.
Moving on to the ‘both teams to score’ soccer betting market, I can see ‘no’ being the outcome.
At -150 I don’t see a bet on ‘no’ as much value though, as there is the slight possibility of a 1-1 draw.
I also don’t see much point betting on ‘yes’ either, with the side managed by Luis Fernando Suarez likely to play a defensive system.
As much as the USA national team has been disappointing of late though, they have still only lost once in five qualifying matches.
The USA is a decent well-organized team that doesn’t lose very often at home. I’m pretty certain that this run will continue against Costa Rica.
I believe the best the visitors can get in Ohio is a draw, and that will be a brilliant result.
I also expect a reaction from the Stars and Stripes to Sunday’s disappointing defeat. And I think they will rise to the occasion and finish this latest trilogy of matches on a high.
