Argentina vs Panama prediction: WORLD: Friendly International betting tips on match 2023-03-23 23:30.
World Cup winners Argentina are set for a rapturous return as they play their very first game on home soil since lifting the trophy in Qatar during winter. An incredible reception from a sold out Estadio Monumental could be just what Lionel Messi in particular needs after he was jeered by his own fans in a 2-0 club loss against Rennes on Sunday evening.
Paris-related issues will be at the back of Messi’s mind as the scorer of two goals and a penalty in the World Cup final looks to help build on his national side’s incredible record of just one defeat in all games since July 2019 (W32, D10, L1). Manager Lionel Scaloni was rewarded with a contract extension until 2026 following that run which climaxed in glory, so his preparations before defending the coveted trophy begin here against Panama.
It would be a turn up for the books if Panama were to show up to Buenos Aires and spoil Argentina’s homecoming party, not least as they’ve won just one of their last eight games (W1, D5, L2). That run is highly unlikely to improve here as Panama boss Thomas Christiansen isn’t travelling for the game and has selected a side mostly full of players plying their trade in the Panama league system for this friendly.
The reason for that is their crunch CONCACAF Nations League game against Costa Rica next week, as Christiansen stated in the buildup ‘it would be exciting to go to Argentina, but for me it is not the priority’. Considering the brazen disregard shown for this fixture by the manager, we could perhaps see a similarly dominant performance from Argentina as in both the latest H2H (5-0) and Panama’s last game against a top-20 ranked nation (L 5-0).
Players to watch: Argentina star Julián Álvarez comes into this game in red-hot form after contributing to five goals across his last five club games (G3, A2) and knows this stadium very well after spending his earlier career at River Plate. Trying to stop him will be Panama’s Edgardo Fariña, the centre-back who made his international debut in a hard-fought draw earlier this month.
Hot stat: There were goals in both halves in 12 of Argentina’s last 14 matches.