The United States Men’s National Team begin their Concacaf Nations League campaign at home to Grenada on Friday.
Gregg Berhalter’s side come into the match following friendlies against Morocco and Uruguay, winning the first 3-0 before drawing 0-0 in the latter.
Ranked 170th in the world, Grenada will provide a completely different sort of challenge for the USMNT, who must not let complacency get in the way of picking up three points.
This is one of just four remaining fixtures for the USMNT between now and the start of their World Cup campaign against Wales on November 22.
Read on for team news, broadcast info, head-to-head records, and more…
When is kick-off? Friday, 10 June, 10pm (EST)
Where is it being played? Q2 Stadium
What TV channel is it on? TUDN USA & UniMas
Highlights? Concacaf YouTube channel
With a tougher test against El Salvador coming just days later, Berhalter may look to rotate his starting XI for this match, perhaps saving some of the USMNT’s European stars.
Weston McKennie started against Uruguay for the first time since breaking his foot in February but will likely be rested here.
USMNT predicted XI: Turner; Cannon, Zimmerman, Carter-Vickers, Bello; Acosta, De la Torre, Roldan; Weah, Wright, Morris.
Jamal Charles moved to third on Grenada’s all-time goalscoring charts, netting for the 14th time in 28 caps to help the Caribbean nation to a 2-2 Nations League draw against El Salvador on Tuesday. The CD Real Sociedad striker is now three behind Kithson Bain in second.
The likes of Kairo Mitchell and Kayden Harrack ply their trade in the English lower leagues with Notts County and QPR, respectively, while Grenada have a number of players from USL, including Charleston Battery duo AJ Paterson and Benjamin Ettienne.
Grenada predicted XI: Belfon; Ettienne, Harrack, Paterson, Sterling; Theodore, A. Charles; Frank, Berkeley-Agyepong, John-Brown; J. Charles.
This will be the fourth meeting between these two nations, with the United States winning the previous three by a 10-2 aggregate scoreline.
The most recent of those three fixtures came way back in July 2009, with the USMNT coming out on top 4-0 thanks to goals from Freddy Adu, Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers, and Charlie Davies.
Facing the 170th team in the world will be a different experience for the USMNT after friendlies against nations ranked 24th and 13th. That said, Grenada seriously tested El Salvador across two games, so Berhalter’s players cannot let their guard down.
Whoever starts here will want to prove a point to their head coach with the World Cup rapidly approaching and that alone could see the USMNT run out professional, comfortable winners.
Score prediction: USMNT 4-0 Grenada