USA 4/7 Home Favourites To Defeat Panama on Friday

Published on October 6th, 2017 4:33 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel
The United States is in real danger of missing out on a World Cup berth.

The wheels have fallen off of the club during Round 5 of World Cup qualifying, and there are now in a tooth-and-nail battle to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Heading into the fifth round of qualifying, many assumed that the United States would easily grab one of the available spots. Now, 8 games into qualifying, the US sits with a total of nine points, placing them in a tie for fourth place with the Honduras. The United States is currently looking up at three teams - Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama.

The United States will be playing host to Panama on Friday in a game that has the utmost importance for both sides. Panama currently has 10 points, which means that a win over the United States would give the country a great chance of qualifying for a World Cup spot. A loss for the US on Friday, on the other hand, would be devastating.

The top three teams will qualify for a World Cup 2018 spot, while the fourth place team will enter into an inter-confederation playoff to determine who earns one of the last spots. As of right now, the United States would qualify for the inter-confederation playoffs, though Honduras is right on their heels.

With a win on Friday, the United States would vault into the third spot in the qualifying table, which is obviously where they want to be. Mexico has already qualified for a spot, while Costa Rica is on the verge of doing so.

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Let's take a look at the odds for Friday's match:

USA, 8/15
Draw, 14/5
Panama, 13/2

According to these odds, the USA should will handily on Friday, though they have had a tendency to dramatically mess up their home contests during this round of qualifying, so US supporters certainly won't be breathing easy.

According to the bookmakers, the five likeliest outcomes of Friday's contest are:

USA 1-0, 9/2
USA 2-0, 5/1
Draw 1-1, 6/1
USA 2-1, 15/2
Draw 0-0, 7/1

The likeliest goal scorers on Friday: That would be Clint Dempsey (6/5), Jozy Altidore (7/5) and Bobby Wood (8/5).

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There is an incredible amount on the line on Friday for both clubs, so don't be surprised if you see some nervous, tight football.

Saturday's match will be taking place at the Orlando City Stadium in Orlando, Florida.