On Wednesday, the USA wrap up the penultimate window of qualifying by facing Honduras at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

La H were officially eliminated from World Cup 2022 contention, losing 2-0 against El Salvador, while The Yanks could not solve their northern neighbours, falling by that same score versus Canada.

Match preview

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A second defeat in this qualifying round has Gregg Berhalter and his American side in a precarious position, maintaining a spot in the top three, but only leading Panama by a single point.

The former Columbus Crew coach was surprisingly pleased with his team's performance following their loss to The Canucks, praising their running and pressure, despite failing to find the back of the net.

On Sunday, the United States led in virtually every statistical category but came away empty-handed against a Canadian side, who appeared to be quite content to give them the ball for large stretches of that encounter.

The narrow turf field in Hamilton did not seem to suit the Gold Cup champions, who, despite having the ball for much of that contest, rarely threatened Milan Borjan's goal, although the Red Star Belgrade keeper produced an outstanding save late in the first half from a Weston McKennie header.

A victory on Wednesday will be critical to the American hopes of qualification, especially knowing that two of their final three games in this campaign will be on the road, where they have only won two of their previous seven matches, although one of those triumphs came in San Pedro, against Los Catrachos (4-1).

After a rough opening 45 minutes against the Hondurans in September and trailing by a goal, The Yanks reacted well, scoring four times in the second half, to collect a massive road victory.

Throughout this qualifying campaign, the United States have relied on some outstanding play from their midfielders, who have won the majority of their duels, although some of their big names in the attack have failed to deliver, namely Christian Pulisic, who has been under intense scrutiny from critics, producing only one goal thus far in the Octagon.

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For a second successive campaign, Honduras will not be competing at the World Cup, dropping their sixth consecutive contest in this qualifying round on Sunday.

Hernan Dario Gomez's side had some of their old habits creep up again versus the Salvadorians this past weekend, as they had several giveaways, allowing their opponents too much space to counter throughout the match.

Since the first time they entered World Cup qualifying for the 1962 finals, La H have only failed to win a match in two campaigns (1966 and 1990), and they have four games left to try and avoid doing it again, while also salvaging a little pride at the same time.

This is a highly experienced group, although the players have not shown much poise in their half of the field, and they have been known to panic when being pressed in their own penalty area.

In the past dozen years, the Hondurans have been abysmal on American soil, dropping seven straight encounters in the land of the free by a combined score of 15-3.

The opening 45 minutes were a significant strength for Honduras in their first four matches in the Octagon, but that has suddenly become a weakness, conceding a first-half strike in all but one of their qualifiers since then.

If there is a positive note that they can take away from their past few games, it might be their technical play, as they have put together a pass accuracy of 80% or more in each of their previous three matches in all competitions.

Team News

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Berhalter made three changes to the starting 11 that defeated El Salvador last Thursday, inserting Miles Robinson to the backline, while Brenden Aaronson and Gyasi Zardes played in attack alongside Pulisic.

A poor goal kick clearance by goalkeeper Matt Turner put the Americans behind early versus Canada, as the man linked with a potential move to Arsenal this summer conceded more than once for the first time in his career for the national team.

Tyler Adams, McKennie and Yunus Musah partnered in midfield on Sunday for the fifth time in this qualifying cycle, while Sebastian Lletget and Gabriel Slonina were omitted, because only 23 players can be submitted for each game, while Zack Steffen did not travel with the US and is listed as day-to-day.

In September, Brayan Moya scored the only goal for Honduras in their defeat to the Americans, while goalkeeper Edrick Menjivar collected his fourth cap for the national team this past weekend, replacing Luis Lopez.

That was one of seven changes made to their starting 11 as Allans Vargas, Franklin Flores, Kevin Lopez, Jonathan Toro, Moya and Bryan Rochez all began their game against El Salvador.

With the team officially out of the running for a spot at the World Cup, it will be interesting to see if Gomez gives the newcomers some playing time, as Devron Garcia and Cristian Sacaza are the only players selected for this window, who have yet to earn a cap for the national team.

USA possible starting lineup:
Turner; A. Robinson, Richards, Zimmerman, Cannon; McKennie, Adams, K. Acosta; Pulisic, Pepi, Weah

Honduras possible starting lineup:
Guity; Quaye, Vargas, Figueroa, Rodriguez; Arriaga, Mejia, B. Acosta, Alvarez; Quioto, Elis

We say: USA 3-0 Honduras

With the pressure mounting on this American team to right the wrongs of their 2018 campaign, playing the Hondurans might be just what they need, as La H are a wounded animal at the moment, who appear to have lost their way, while allowing opposing sides free access to their penalty area, which we expect the US will use to their advantage.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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