You probably wouldn't believe it, but El Salvador is playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the sixth straight time. This isn't your average bottom-feeding team either. The El Salvadorians have mustered at least two points in each of their last five trips to this juncture of the CONCACAF championship. This is probably the worst El Salvador team that has been brought to the Gold Cup in recent history, though, and Mexico is surely one of the toughest opponents to be faced along the way as well.
Don't miss the Gold Cup action from Qualcomm Stadium at 9:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9, 2017. Catch every moment of the match live on FOX Sports 1.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Mexico -500
El Salvador +1100
Draw +500
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
Mexico has a tremendous home pitch advantage in this one. There are a slew of soccer fans who come from the western side of Mexico that will surely stream over the border to check out this match right up the road in San Diego.
That extra boost from the fans could be just what this young Mexico squad really needs in order to get over the hump. There's a reason why a C-list El Tri side is -500 to win this match in spite of the fact that El Salvador is bringing about as good of a squad as it could.
The total has to be higher than your standard 2.5 thanks to the fact that the Mexicans are favored by two goals on the Asian Handicap. That said, it's hard to think that there's a way El Salvador can add to the total of a flat 3.
Roster Analysis
Mexico and the United States essentially both flew the white flag at each other in the Gold Cup, and neither one of them decided to really care that much about the Gold Cup. Juan Carlos Osorio has a built-in excuse; he didn't want anyone on his roster playing in both the Confederations Cup in Russia and the Gold Cup in the United States with a short turnaround. Thus, there will be 23 new faces from the team that went to Russia, the mass majority of which have played just a few times, if any for the national team.
Rafael Burgos hasn't been called up for this match for El Salvador, but the rest of this club is as whole as it gets.
Rodolfo Zelaya might end up being the most crucial player on the pitch. Often times, El Salvador is going to go with just one man in attack, and he's going to be it. He's been efficient, scoring 19 times in 42 career appearances. If there's a goal to be had for the underdogs, this is where it's coming from.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
That said, we have a hard time seeing that goal coming. Mexico is surely going to dominate the possession in this match, quite possibly seeing 70 percent of the ball over the course of the 90 minutes.
However, there will likely be a lot of problems finishing for this squad as we saw with the mostly senior team that went to Russia.
Osorio and the gang will get their three points, but it's going to be hard saying that three points against a bad El Salvador team is going to move the needle at all when it comes to Osorio keeping his job.
Gold Cup Odds: Mexico 2, El Salvador 0
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