USA vs Honduras Nations League Semi-Final Prediction
USA vs Honduras Nations League Semi-Final Prediction: The CONCACAF Nations League semi-final between USA and Honduras is slated for a 7:30 pm EST kick off Thursday, June 3. The US are fresh off a 2-1 loss to Switzerland in an international friendly and will look to use the extra firepower of Christian Pulisic and added defense with Zack Steffen to add a much needed win to the USMNT record.
Honduras also suffered a 2-1 defeat in their most recent fixture. Their international friendly pit them against a decent Greece side on March 28. Diego Rodriguez managed the only goal for the Honduras side in that match in a great finish along the deck from the top of the box.
Unfortunately, Greece took the lead quickly after halftime and Hondruas couldn’t get anything started on attack and suffered a defeat. They will have a much tougher matchup against a surprisingly strong USMNT side that has a lot of tools on offense.
USA: Ways to Win
The USMNT now have Pulisic and their offense became that much pacier. With Musah on the bench, the fastest man on the pitch for the US was Dest who made his presence known getting high up on the left side, but with Pulisic surely in the starting lineup and the possible addition of Musah to test out other options, Honduras will have to really make sure they stay honest or else they will get burned.
With that said, Sargent needs to find himself more involved in the game and score the way a center forward should. He has a great supporting cast with Reyna on one side, Pulisic on the other, and Lletget, Musah, or McKennie following from behind. They will guarantee him opportunities; he just has to make sure he makes the most of them, which has been an issue with Sargent in the past.
Despite the experience and strength of Maynor Figuerora at center back for Honduras, the USMNT have stronger players and more of them, and will win through overloads on the wing and down the center of the pitch. Moving the ball and being dynamic with movements will open up the field quickly and will give them goals. Quite frankly, the USMNT just need to keep the ball in the attacking third and good things will happen.
Honduras: Ways to Win
The USMNT looked incredibly weak against Switzerland with balls over the top down the left side. Dest gets very high and doesn’t track back too quickly. Combine that with the fact that the biggest weakness the USMNT have is their center backs and Honduras will be able to make the most of these gaps. We saw it last week with Embolo on Switzerland who had a handful of chances in the exact same manner: long penetrating balls over the center-left side of the field.
Honduras will have their hands full on defense and need to try to limit one-on-one moments. Help defense will be the name of the game. Shift as a team and make sure there is always someone ready to support another if a defender gets beat on the dribble. This is going to be a tough game for Honduras. There is no doubt about that. If they want to win, they need to counter-attack down the left and score if they shoot. They won’t have many opportunities.
USA vs Honduras: Prediction
At the end of the day, the USMNT are just a more talented team across the starting eleven and although they have significant weak points with their defense, their offense is powerful enough to make up for mistakes that will be made by their backline. Steffen won’t be enough to ensure a clean sheet, but Pulisic will come away with a goal or at least heavy involvement in one.
Prediction: USA 3 Honduras 1
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