USA vs. El Salvador, Concacaf Nations League: What to watch for

The United States Men’s National Team conclude the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League group stage tomorrow night when they take on El Salvador in Orlando. The USMNT enter the match leading Group D with 7 points after a 7-1 demolition of Grenada on the road Friday night. Still, they need a result against 2nd place El Salvador to clinch the group and advance to the Nations League Finals in June.

The USMNT are hoping to continue capitalizing on scoring opportunities, but it will come against a Salvadorean team that can keep the game tight. The teams drew 1-1 in San Salvador last June, with El Salvador outplaying the Americans throughout the match before a late Jordan Morris equalizer gave each team the point. The United States will look to wrap up the group in convincing style in Orlando to end the group stage unbeaten and looking forward to defending their Nations League title.

Latest Form

USA

W (7-1) - Grenada - Concacaf Nations League

D (0-0) - Colombia - Friendly

L (1-2) - Serbia - Friendly

L (1-3) - Netherlands - 2022 World Cup Round of 16

W (1-0) - Iran - 2022 World Cup Group B

D (0-0) - England - 2022 World Cup Group B

El Salvador

L (0-1) - Honduras - Friendly

L (0-1) - Nicaragua - Friendly

L (1-4) - Peru - Friendly

D (1-1) - USA - Friendly

D (2-2) - Grenada - Friendly

What To Watch For

Keep pushing forward. The USMNT did a great job of pushing the ball forward quickly on offense to find guys to score. Against El Salvador, they should do what they can to make it a more open match where they can keep possession as they march down the field.

Keep a clean work station on defense. The defense needs to make sure they keep El Salvador in front of them, and they shouldn’t allow any opportunities for goals to be poached. Keeping the defensive third clean and getting the ball out of there will help keep El Salvador on their toes.

Withstand the pressure. El Salvador need a win to advance to the Nations League Finals, so they’re going to try to open things up and try to pressure the USMNT into making a mistake they can use to score. The USMNT needs to withstand that pressure, and hopefully will be able to provide some of their own to keep El Salvador at arm’s length.

Lineup Prediction

There will be some squad rotation as the team tries to get the result against El Salvador:

Turner is once again in goal, and we have most of our main starters on the back line: Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Miles Robinson, and Sergiño Dest. Johnny runs the defensive middle, while Weston McKennie is joined by Yunus Musah in the middle.

Up front, Christian Pulisic starts again on the left, with Gio Reyna on the right wing. Daryl Dike gets his chance to start at the 9.

Prediction

The USMNT once again get it done in Orlando. The win streak there continues with a 3-1 victory.