El Salvador vs Costa Rica prediction: NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA: Gold Cup betting tips on match 2023-06-30 00:30.
After a miserable eight-game winless run heading into the CONCACAF Gold Cup (D3, L5), the dark days continued to follow El Salvador in their tournament opener as they were sensationally beaten 2-1 by Martinique – a nation not even recognised by FIFA! La Selecta must now find a response to that harsh reality check, as defeat in their next clash against Costa Rica will leave them on the brink of a second group stage elimination in three Gold Cup campaigns.
It’s clear to see where the problems lie for Hugo Pérez’s men, as they’ve scored just twice in their last six matches (D1, L5), both of which arrived beyond the 85th minute. A quick resolution to that problem will be required in a fixture that El Salvador historically don’t enjoy (W9, D12, L37), with their last H2H win coming back in the 2009 edition of this competition (D5, L5 since).
While their result wasn’t quite as embarrassing, Costa Rica also went down 2-1 in their group opener against Panama. Los Ticos’ only goal in that game served as a stoppage-time consolation, so they’ll also be going back to the drawing board to try and arrest a four-game losing streak that threatens to plague their Gold Cup.
Costa Rica have now lost six of their last eight matches (W2), a run hardly befitting of CONCACAF’s third-highest ranked nation. While expectations may not be high given their current plight, escaping the group is imperative for Luis Fernando Suárez’s men, as they’ve reached the knockouts in each of the last 12 Gold Cups, last failing to do so way back in 1998!
Players to watch: Scorer of his first international goal from the spot against Martinique, El Salvador skipper Bryan Tamacas may need to take up the attacking burden from full-back again as none of the midfielders or forwards to start their opening group match have scored for their country. Costa Rica will likely turn to ex-Arsenal man Joel Campbell to do the damage as he scored the winner in their most recent H2H in March 2022.
Hot stat: All four previous H2Hs at the Gold Cup saw both teams find the net.